It was quite a week at Voice of San Diego.
Our reporters chased down some scandals and tracked down a troubled ex-cop. Grab some cafecito. Here’s what you need to know.
County Troubles
Reporter Lisa Halverstadt revealed in a new story that a county nursing facility has been plagued by racism, harassment allegations and sex tapes.
Separately, a county employee in the behavioral health department was investigated for making a racist comment during an online training session. Investigators concluded that the employee did do it, and county leaders later promoted the employee.
You may be wondering, how did Lisa find this?
We requested employee misconduct records, but the county refused to hand them over, so we sued them. Last week, a judge ordered the release of the records, and within minutes of the county sending us the documents, they announced that they had fired the behavioral health director.
Lisa spent time going through the records and unpacking the misconduct findings. You can read Lisa’s story here.
No Attorney Fees for MTS
On Friday, a judge denied a request from attorneys representing the Metropolitan Transit System to force ex-employee Grecia Figueroa to pay nearly $800,000 in legal bills.
Figueroa accused former county supervisor and MTS board chair Nathan Fletcher of sexual harassment and assault. She also sued MTS. Judge Matthew C. Braner dismissed both cases last year. (Here’s an explanation of why.)
Figueroa is appealing. In the meantime, Braner ruled it’s too early to force her to pay.
Lisa Halverstadt has more on the ruling and a joke the judge made. Read the story here.
Bad Cop, New Job
Reporter Jakob McWhinney revealed late last week that a former sheriff’s deputy who was convicted of assaulting women has found a new job with a Christian cop group.
Jakob writes that more than 20 women accused Ricky Fischer of “a myriad of abuses over a two-year period, from unwanted groping and kissing to forcing them to perform oral sex on him.” Fischer is now a chaplain with San Diego-based Christian Law Enforcement Fellowship.
Fischer’s actions also cost taxpayers nearly $10 million from the settlements given to his victims.
Jakob spoke to an attorney who represented many of the victims and the president of the fellowship group about Fischer’s new gig.
You can read the full story here.
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