A top prosecutor in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has been accused of repeatedly groping and sexually harassing two female colleagues.
Deputy District Attorneys Beth Silverman and Tannaz Mokayef will receive $700,000 to settle a shocking lawsuit against Gary Hearnsberger.
The women have accused Hearnsberger, the head deputy of the Major Crimes Division, of inappropriately touching them and making graphic sexual comments.
Hearnsberger, who is married, allegedly once said he wanted to ‘jack off’ on Superior Court Judge Deborah Brazil while she ‘strangled to death’, according to TMZ.
Gary Hearnsberger, a top prosecutor at the LA District Attorney’s Office, allegedly once said he wanted to ‘jack off’ on Superior Court Judge Deborah Brazil while she ‘strangled to death’, a shocking lawsuit has claimed (Hearnsberger and Brazil are pictured here in 2011)
Deputy District Attorneys Beth Silverman (left) and Tannaz Mokayef (right) will receive $700,000 to settle the lawsuit against Hearnsberger, who they claim repeatedly groped and sexually harassed them in the office and at work events
The lawsuit claims Hearnsberger would repeatedly make comments about Silverman and Mokayef’s sex lives, asking one of them after vacation if their ‘p***y was sore’.
Silverman and Mokayef said their supervisor would make gestures to them mimicking oral sex and compared the latter’s cell phone vibrations to a sex toy.
Mokayef also claimed that Hearnsberger one reached under her skirt at a restaurant during a work event and grabbed her crotch, the lawsuit states.
Silverman alleged that Hearnsberger put his hands on her butt during another work event and said ‘You know you like it’.
The lawsuit also contains a photo of Hearnsberger at a ‘Hillbilly party’ for work in July 2012 that shows him dressed only in denim overalls.
Attached to his crotch was a sheep stuffed animal made to look as if ‘he was having anal sex with the sheep’, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims Hearnsberger (pictured with his wife) would repeatedly make comments about Silverman and Mokayef’s sex lives, asking one after vacation if their ‘p***y was sore’
Mokayef and Silverman, who filed the civil lawsuit in 2015, said they were passed over for high-profile cases because they rejected Hearnsberger
Hearnsberger also allegedly once told the women: ‘You know what’s a sign of a good boss it? One who will f**k the people that work for him and still not give them any good cases’.
Silverman alleged that Hearnsberger put his hands on her butt during a work event and said ‘You know you like it’
Mokayef and Silverman, who filed the civil lawsuit in 2015, said they were passed over for high-profile cases because they rejected Hearnsberger.
They also allege that Hearnsberger began to curse and scream at them in front of their colleagues as punishment for denying his advances, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Silverman said four additional female colleagues also accused Hearnsberger of sexual harassment and misconduct and complained internally.
She told two superiors about Hearnsberger’s behavior, and was told by one male supervisor that he did not want to hear it, court papers state.
District Attorney Jackie Lacey has denied that her office, which reportedly never launched a criminal investigation, ignored accusations against Hearnsberger.
‘We have no tolerance for sexual harassment in this office,’ she said in a statement.
Silverman (pictured) said four additional female colleagues also accused Hearnsberger of sexual harassment and misconduct and complained internally
Hearnsberger was placed on paid administrative leave in March 2015 and retired with a full pension on March 31, 2018, a week before the case had been settled
‘My managers are trained through the county and as part of my leadership team to respect their colleagues and uphold the values of the office.’
Hearnsberger, who has called the accusations ‘completely and totally untrue’, was transferred to run the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Division after Silverman and Mokayef complained.
He was placed on paid administrative leave in March 2015 and retired with a full pension on March 31, 2018, a week before the case had been settled.
One of the women reportedly demanded that Hearnsberger leave the office for good as part of the settlement.
The settlement will be paid by the District Attorney’s Office.