[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap] former staffer of Los Angeles City Council representative Jose Huizar Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging she faced retaliation after complaining that Huizar had an affair with one of his other staffers. She also accused the Boyle Heights-based councilman of making his staff “secretly use money from the city’s general-purpose fund to pay for Huizar’s personal expenses and funnel funds to certain recipients for prohibited purposes.”
Pauline Medina worked as Huizar’s office manager and lead administrator since 2012, and in other capacities for nearly a decade. In her suit Wednesday, Medina said the retaliation and harassment against her began last year in October after she told the council representative’s chief of staff, Paul Habib, that her boss was having an affair with another staffer in the office.
'This is nothing more than a coordinated political attack.'
She is the second former staffer to file a lawsuit against the city. Mayra Alvarez, who was Huizar’s executive assistant and scheduler, filed a lawsuit last week. Both allege Huizar engaged in an extramarital affair, mistreated his office staff, and directed legal violations. And both share the same attorney, Terrence Jones.