SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A judge has dismissed the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by an ex-MTS employee against former San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher.
In a tentative ruling on Aug. 7, Superior Court Judge Matthew Braner wrote that the plaintiff, Grecia Figueroa, destroyed evidence, including text messages and a voice recording to Fletcher. The case was officially dismissed during a Friday morning motions hearing.
Figueroa filed the case in March 2023, alleging sexual harassment, failure to prevent sexual harassment and retaliation, sexual assault and battery, as well as whistleblower retaliation.
The Metropolitan Transit System was also named as a defendant, since Fletcher was the chair at the time.
Figueroa claimed Fletcher began to stalk her on Instagram in May 2021 and later sexually assaulted her.
The lawsuit alleged that on May 12, 2022, Fletcher asked Figueroa to visit him at his hotel. It stated that once at the hotel in a stairwell, Fletcher “quickly asked to kiss Ms. Figueroa..." but “she rejected his advance, pointing out that he was married and she had no intention of having anything more than a conversation.”
The lawsuit further alleged that Fletcher sexually assaulted Figueroa on May 13 that same year. The suit also claimed that Figueroa was abruptly terminated from MTS on the same day Fletcher announced his run for California State Senate.
Fletcher has denied the allegations, but he has admitted to having “consensual interactions with someone outside my marriage.”
The court dismissed MTS from the civil case on Aug. 1.
In his tentative ruling, Braner wrote that the plaintiff “engaged in a systematic and sustained effort to delay production of evidence and obstruct the discovery process.”
"The litany of discovery abuses perpetrated by Plaintiff in this case warrant termination of her lawsuit... Plaintiff engaged in a pattern of preserving only the evidence she believed was helpful to her case, while actively deleting, or knowingly allowing to be deleted, evidence that was likely detrimental to her claims," the ruling states.
Figueroa told ABC 10News anchor Melissa Mecija that they will likely appeal the decision. After the hearing, Figueroa confirmed her plans to appeal.
She also issued the following statement, which is what she read in court for the judge before he dismissed the case:
"Thank you, your honor, first I’d like to say, respectfully, that I find it disrespectful to invalidate my experience and call abuse of power an affair."
"At this point I have complied with discovery, I have sat for more than 25 hours of deposition, produced ten thousand messages between my friend and I have turned over medical records and personal records, and nothing was deleted with the intent to hide anything. In fact I wish I had some of the missing evidence because I think it could be helpful to my case."
"I also did talk to MTS about reporting, when I asked that question to them, and it was to the CEO, the chief of HR who is sitting here today, and my manager, two weeks later they drafted the memo for my termination. This was in a meeting, and the HR Chief actually confirmed that this question happened."
"When I asked that question I was terrified to even utter the words sexual harassment.
"I felt trapped because they didn’t give me any reassurance that I would be protected, and it is with the same courage that I stand before you today. Because this lawsuit was never just about me, it was to ensure what happened to me never happened to anyone else.
"And if I never get the chance to testify in court, I want to say this: What I understood the day that Nathan Fletcher ended his deposition was that this lawsuit, and the courage that it took to bring it forward, and the women that also spoke up have already helped save many people from experiencing the same abuse of power, and that is something no one can take away."
Below, you'll find a copy of the tentative ruling document outlining the judge's decision:
Documents: Case vs. Fletcher dismissed by Pat Mueller on Scribd
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This is a developing story. ABC 10News has assigned a crew to this story to gather more information. Stay with us as our team of journalists works to gather the latest information.
