A former Orange County prosecutor has agreed to an $800,000 settlement with the county after alleging that a supervisor sexually harassed her and high-level managers retaliated against her while she was working at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
The former female prosecutor alleged in her lawsuit that Jess Rodriguez, then-head of the OC District Attorney’s felony sexual assault unit made “repeated and unwelcome advances” toward her. Those alleged advances included “inappropriate and sexualized comments, graphic discussions of personal sexual activities and sending lewd messages,” according to her lawsuit.
The settlement was confirmed in a closed session report from the Oct. 13 Orange County Supervisors meeting. A spokeswoman for the county declined to comment further, citing a policy not to discuss pending litigation.
An attorney representing the woman — identified in court filings by the pseudonym “Jane Doe” — could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday. Rodriguez also could not be reached.
The former prosecutor alleged that Rodriguez texted her “I need to get in some quality time watching you bend over to reach the projector” and “Gimme something to have sweet dreams about tonight,” among other messages.
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The woman tried to rebuff Rodriguez’s advances, her lawsuit alleged, by talking about being in a committed relationship. But because of “prior retaliation against colleagues who complained about misconduct,” at the OC District Attorney’s Office, she “reasonably believed that reporting Rodriguez’s behavior would jeopardize her career advancement,” the lawsuit alleged.
The former prosecutor alleged that after several months of rebuffing Rodriguez’s advances she began experiencing “hostility” from Richard Zimmer and Rebecca Reed, who at the time were high-level supervisors in charge of the DA’s felony panel. They refused to allow her to offer “reasonable plea deals” to defendants in cases she was assigned, according to the lawsuit, and colleagues with less tenure were promoted ahead of her.
The OC District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Zimmer, who is now a judge, did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent through an Orange County Superior Court spokesman.
The harassment, discrimination and retaliation allegations were investigated by the county’s Equal Opportunity Access Office, according to the lawsuit. The former prosecutor resigned from the OC District Attorney’s Office in September 2024. Several months later, according to the suit, the Equal Employment Opportunity Access Office investigation ended with a finding that the claims were “not substantiated.”
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