A Superior Court judge on Friday rejected a legal request from former San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher to have the civil lawsuit filed against him nearly two years ago dismissed ahead of trial.
Judge Matthew C. Braner denied what’s called a motion for summary judgment, saying there is enough evidence in dispute between Fletcher and former Metropolitan Transit System public relations specialist Grecia Figueroa to present the case to a jury.
In a tentative ruling upheld Friday, Braner said the most pressing question is whether Figueroa consented to what Fletcher has called an inappropriate relationship with the MTS employee while he served as chair of the transit agency’s board of directors.
“The issue of consent is primarily, if not exclusively, factual in nature and should in most cases be decided by a jury,” the judge ruled.
“The dispute ultimately goes to the weight of the evidence and determinations of credibility, which are fundamentally jury questions, and not issues upon which a summary judgment motion can or should be decided,” Braner added.
Fletcher attorney Sam Sherman argued that after nearly two years of litigation, the plaintiff had been unable to support the remaining allegations in her lawsuit.
“Where is the evidence in this case that Nathan Fletcher intended to cause her emotional distress?” he asked the court. “I didn’t see a single fact.”
But the judge said that debate is best resolved by a jury.
The ruling all but assures the long-running civil lawsuit will go to trial. A trial had been scheduled to begin next month, but that proceeding was canceled. A new date will be considered at a hearing next week.
Figueroa sued Fletcher and MTS in March 2023, saying she had been wrongly fired the prior month after she alleges the board chair sexually harassed and assaulted her. She was fired the same day Fletcher announced he was running for state Senate.
Figueroa accused Fletcher of repeatedly groping her against her wishes, including at least twice in the agency’s downtown offices. She said she was afraid to reject his sexual advances because of his role as board chair.
MTS was accused of wrongly firing Figueroa, a claim agency officials have denied.
The allegations became public two days after Fletcher announced he was suspending his Senate campaign and stepping away from his responsibilities to the county Board of Supervisors and to the transit agency.
He said in a Sunday night social media post that he planned to enter a residential treatment facility for alcohol abuse and post-traumatic stress related to his previous combat service as a U.S. Marine.
The Figueroa lawsuit was filed soon thereafter. Fletcher issued a statement admitting to engaging in what he described as an improper relationship but strongly denying the harassment and assault claims. He resigned his MTS seat and subsequently quit as county supervisor.
The lawsuit has since generated hundreds of court filings, a spate of depositions and a defamation lawsuit filed by Fletcher against his accuser.
Court filings also disclosed that Fletcher routinely kept a gun hidden inside his boot to protect himself from death threats. Figueroa also claimed she was offered $200,000 to avoid pursuing a lawsuit, but Fletcher’s lawyers rejected that assertion.
KPBS reported Thursday that Fletcher has now spent more than $875,000 defending the lawsuit and pressing his defamation case. The legal spending has all but drained the nearly $1 million in campaign funds he had amassed for his state Senate run.
Late last year, Figueroa dismissed the sexual assault and battery claims against Fletcher, opting instead to proceed with the sexual harassment claims and other allegations against him and MTS.
Friday’s hearing also pertained to text messages and other evidence that lawyers for Fletcher and Figueroa both claim were wrongly withheld — or even destroyed — during the legal process known as discovery.
Braner denied a request for a protective order sought by Figueroa’s lawyers, who wanted to prevent Fletcher’s team from re-examining their client’s cell phone.
Fletcher’s lawyers say Figueroa wrongly deleted messages and want another opportunity to inspect the device.
Figueroa’s lawyers on Friday accused the defendant of destroying electronic messages, too. “Mr. Fletcher also deleted a bunch of messages,” attorney John Holcomb told the court.
Braner directed both sides to meet and confer to determine how the other could mutually satisfy their needs. A follow-up hearing was scheduled for this coming Thursday.
The judge also granted a request from Figueroa and her former lawyers to quash a subpoena from Fletcher’s lawyers. Attorney Jessica Pride, who previously represented Figueroa, told the court she had no additional information or evidence to support a deposition.
“I think they are on a wild goose chase,” Pride said of Fletcher’s lawyers. “Somehow they are implying that I am keeping something. I am not, your honor.”
