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CITY OF
BOX CC
CARlv1EL-BY-THE-SEA, CA 93921
RECEI\lELi
DEC 1 7 2013
CLAIM FOR DAMAGES AGAINST THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
Pursuant to Section 910 of the Government Code of California, the following claim for damages is
submitted:
1. Name and mailing address of claimant:
John Hanson c/o Law Offices of Michael W. Stamp
479 Pacific Street, Suite One, Monterey CA 93940
2. Mailing address to which claimant wishes notices sent:
Same as above.
3. Date, Place and circumstances of the occun-ence or transaction giving rise to the claim:
See attached, incorporated herein.
4. If you are filing a claim for bodily injury, please provide the following:
Date of Birth: on file with City; confidential Social Secmity with City; confidential
5. General description of the indebtedness, obligation, injury, damage or loss incuned, so far as is
known to claimant.
See attached response to Item 3, above, and attached.
6. Amount claimed:
A. If less than $10,000, state the amount$--"----------....,--;-;--
B. Ifmore than $10,000, is it more No:
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Dated: December 17, 2013
IMPORTANT: CLAIM MUST BE SIGNED BY CLAIMANT OR BY SOME PERSON ON
CLAIMANT'S BEHALF (GOVERNEMENT CODE SECTION 910.2)
S Drive: City Hall/Data/ FonnsiRisk ManagemenUClaim for Jan 2010
1 Michael W. Stamp, State Bar No. 72785
Molly E. Erickson, State Bar No. 253198
2 LAW OFFICES OF MICHAEL W. STAMP
479 Pacific Street, Suite One
3 Monterey, California 93940
Telephone: (831) 373-1214
4 Facsimile: (831) 373-0242
5 Attorneys for Claimant,
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John Hanson
8 John Hanson,
9 Claimant.
GOVERNMENT CLAIM
Attachment to City Claim Form
(Gov. Code, 910)
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TO THE CLERK AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA:
John Hanson hereby makes a claim for damages against the City of Carmel-by-
the-Sea, as follows:
1. NAME AND MAILING ADDRESS OF CLAIMANT:
2.
3.
John Hanson
c/o Law Offices of Michael W. Stamp
479 Pacific Street, Suite One
Monterey, CA 93940
NOTICES:
Notices concerning this claim should be sent to the following:
John Hanson
c/o Michael W. Stamp
Law Offices of Michael W. Stamp
479 Pacific Street, Suite One
Monterey, CA 93940
DATES, PLACE and CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CLAIM:
24 Dates: The City terminated Mr. Hanson's employment on or about
August 5, 2013 after a continuing course of action, and has continued to act to the
25 present to deprive Mr. Hanson of his rights.
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Place: City of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Circumstances of the Claim:
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JOHN HANSON, CLAIMANT
NOTICE OFGOVERNMENTCLAIM
1 Claimant John Hanson has been employed continuously by the City of a r m e l ~
2 by-the-Sea since October 16, 1988 (25 years). Mr. Hanson was first hired by the City in
3 1988 as Equipment Operator and over the years he was promoted several times. Mr.
4 Hanson has worked in the Building Department since 1997, and his previous titles were
5 Building Maintenance Specialist, and Building Inspector. In 2007, he became the City
6 Building Official.
7 Throughout his 25-year career with the City, Mr. Hanson performed his duties in
8 an exemplary manner and was frequently commended for the high quality and
9 professionalism of his work. Mr. Hanson always received positive reviews and was
10 never subject to criticism, reprimands or discipline. Since 2007 Mr. Hanson was also a
11 reserve police officer with the City's Police Department. Additionally, Mr. Hanson has
12 been with the Army National Guard from August 1998 to August 2013, which
13 occasionally required periods of absence from City employment, including tours of duty
14 in the war zones of Iraq (2003-2005) and Afghanistan {2009-2010).
15 As of 2007, Mr. Hanson was a permanent public employee with the City's
16 Building Department, and held a Constitutionally-protected property interest in his
17 continued employment. In 2007, the City Administrator approached Mr. Hanson about
18 a City demand that Mr. Hanson give up his protected property rights and submit to a
19 written "employment agreement" drafted by the City. Mr. Hanson was not advised that
20 he was being required to relinquish his protected employment rights, that he was being
21 required to give up his due process rights, and that his legally-protected status with the
22 City was being effectively revoked. The "employment agreement" drafted by the City
23 was internally inconsistent and one-sided and advised Mr. Hanson that he had no
24 employment rights, while at the same time advising him that he was a contract
25 employee with rights specified in the written contract. The City did not advise Mr.
26 Hanson that he was giving up valuable employment rights at the City's insistence that
27 he do so. Mr. Hanson did not make a knowing and voluntary waiver of his property
28 rights, his rights by ordinance, his due process rights, and his right to a hearing on all
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JOHN HANSON, CLAIMANT NOTICE OF GOVERNMENT CLAIM
1 matters related to his employment with the City. At the same time, the City purported to
2 deprive Mr. Hanson of his rights to compensation for his losses. Mr. Hanson became
3 the City's Building Official in 2007, and the City repeatedly stated and ratified Mr.
4 Hanson's status as a permanent employee with the title of Building Official.
5 Beginning in March 2013, and leading to unlawful action taken against Mr.
6 Hanson in August 2013, the City undercut Mr. Hanson, interfered with his performance
7 of his duties, and misrepresented his work. The incidents giving rise to this claim show
8 a course of conduct whereby top City administration (Jason Stilwell and Susan Paul,
9 among others), interfered with Mr. Hanson's duties and Building Department
10 operations, sometimes without conferring with, or even informing Mr. Hanson, unduly
11 criticized Mr. Hanson about his job performance and qualifications, took contradictory
12 and inconsistent positions, discriminated against Mr. Hanson based on age, medical
13 condition/disability, and status as an active duty member of the military, and generally
14 created a hostile work environment for Mr. Hanson, leading to his termination without
15 any basis and without any due process given.
16 On August 5, 2013, Mr. Hanson was asked to come into the Carmel Police
17 station where he met the Police chief and City Administrator Jason Stilwell. Mr. Hanson
18 was informed that he was terminated immediately. Mr. Hanson inquired about his
19 severance package but got no response. The City subsequently stated that it would not
20 pay Mr. Hanson the severance called for by the written agreement that the City had
21 previously required Mr. Hanson to sign. City officials, including one or more elected
22 officials, then began an effort to vilify and discredit Mr. Hanson, describing him in ways
23 that the average listener knew his identity, and then declaring him unfit for his
24 employment, all the while leaking confidential personnel information about Mr. Hanson,
25 or purporting to be about Mr. Hanson.
26 The actions of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea and its agents constitute a
27 continuing course of conduct in violation of California and United States Constitutions
28 and laws as follows:
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JOHN HANSON, ClAIMANT NOTICE OF GOVERNMENT ClAIM
1 The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea violated Mr. Hanson's rights under the United
2 States Constitution, the California Constitution and California and Federal law, including
3 the City's own governing ordinance, by, among other things, placing and maintaining
4 Mr. Hanson on involuntary leave without good cause, failing to give notice to Mr.
5 Hanson prior to disciplinary or other action depriving Mr. Hanson of his employment and
6 impairing Mr. Hanson's property interest in his employment, failing to provide Mr.
7 Hanson with due process and an opportunity to be heard, preventing Mr. Hanson from
8 performing his job duties, and unlawfully and unfairly interrogating Mr. Hanson, all in
9 violation of Mr. Hanson's right to due process of law and his legal rights.
10 The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea's actions constituted wrongful termination of Mr.
11 Hanson in violation of California law.
12 The agents of the City of Camel also violated Mr. Hanson's rights concerning
13 privacy secured by the United States and California Constitutions, and by California and
14 Federal law, by disclosing confidential personnel information concerning Mr. Hanson to
15 City employees and the public, and in the other ways described above.
16 The agents of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea defamed Mr. Hanson by publishing
17 to other employees, the general public and other persons false, unprivileged,
18 defamatory, and slanderous statements charging Mr. Hanson with misconduct and lack
19 of credentials and other statements which exposed Mr. Hanson to hatred, contempt,
20 ridicule or obloquy, causing him injury and tending to injure him in respect to his
21 profession and employment, and causing irreparable loss of his reputation in the
22 community.
23 The agents of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea further violated Mr. Hanson's legal
24 and Constitutional rights by depriving Mr. Hanson of his property interest in his
25 employment by purporting to change his permanent status by requiring a contract which
26 is vague, ambiguous, incomplete and lacking consideration, by creating a stigma and
27 official branding of Mr. Hanson, and further by depriving Mr. Hanson of his liberty
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JOHN HANSON, CLAIMANT NOTICE OF GOVERNMENT CLAIM
1 interest in his employment and profession by impugning Mr. Hanson's reputation and
2 his standing in the community, all in violation of his rights to due process of the law.
3 The actions of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea resulted in an impairment of Mr.
4 Hanson's employment agreement in violation of his rights under the United States and
5 California Constitutions. In the alternative, the City breached the written contract with
6 Hanson by terminating him, forcing him out, and failing to deal with Mr. Hanson in good
7 faith.
8 The City improperly and unlawfully denied in bad faith the existence of an
9 employment contract, and violated Mr. Hanson's contract by failing to pay amounts due
10 in violation of Mr. Hanson's Constitutional and legal rights.
11 The City improperly and unlawfully interfered with Mr. Hanson's prospective
12 economic benefit by acting to prevent Mr. Hanson's employment in other organizations
13 after his termination from the City.
14 The agents of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea have intentionally inflicted
15 emotional distress upon Mr. Hanson by engaging in the conduct described above and
16 by deliberately spreading false statements that Mr. Hanson engaged in misconduct and
17 lacked credentials, causing him severe emotional distress, pain and irreparable loss of
18 reputation in the community. In so doing and by violating Mr. Hanson's Constitutional
19 rights, the City stepped out of its proper role as employer and the conduct fell outside of
20 the normal employment relationship.
21 The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea negligently inflicted emotional distress upon Mr.
22 Hanson by the conduct described above, causing him severe emotional distress, pain
23 and loss of reputation in the community.
24 The agents of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea unlawfully discriminated against Mr.
25 Hanson because of his age, in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing
26 Act, Government Code section 12900 et seq. and the Older Americans Act. The
27 actions of the City to arbitrarily suspend or fire employees during the past year have a
28 disparate impact upon older workers, and the City's tactics were intended to, and did,
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JOHN HANSON, CLAIMANT NOTICE OF GOVERNMENT CLAIM
1 abuse the processes of involuntary leave and summary terminations in order to scare
2 and intimidate employees of the City, prevent them from testifying about what they have
3 seen and learned, and force them from their employment for money-saving reasons
4 that cause harm to the employees.
5 The agents of the City unlawfully discriminated against Mr. Hanson due to his
6 medical-related disability and history (post-traumatic stress disorder), and failed to
7 accommodate his medical-related disability in violation of the California Fair
8 Employment and Housing Act, Government Code section 12900 et seq. and the
9 Americans with Disabilities Act.
10 The City Carmel-by-the-Sea unlawfully discriminated against Mr. Hanson
11 because of his employment with the military in violation of Military leave laws (Mil. &
12 Vet. Code, 389 et seq.) and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment
13 Rights Act (USERRA).
14 The actions of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea constitute retaliation against Mr.
15 Hanson in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Government
16 Code section 12900 et seq. The City terminated Mr. Hanson's employment in
17 significant part as retaliation for Mr. Hanson's previous participation as a witness in a
18 sexual harassment lawsuit against the City, for Mr. Hanson's complaints to City
19 management of unlawful discrimination, and/or for being a prospective complainant or
20 witness about unlawful conduct.
21 The actions of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea constitute retaliation against Mr.
22 Hanson for whistleblowing about the City's improper and discriminatory conduct. (Lab.
23 Code, 11 02.5.)
24 The actions of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea constitute arbitrary and capricious
25 conduct within the meaning of California Government Code section 800, and intentional
26 unlawful conduct in violation of the California and federal law, and the California and
27 United States Constitutions.
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JOHN HANSON, CLAIMANT NOTICE OFGOVERNMENTCLAIM
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4. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF DAMAGES, INJURIES, AND LOSSES
INCURRED:
Because of the unlawful, arbitrary, and capricious conduct described above, Mr.
Hanson has sustained damages to his livelihood, his reputation, his professional career
and his personal integrity and health in an amount greater than that specified in
California Government Code section 910, subdivision (f). Mr. Hanson's damages
continue to accrue, and he will incur future damages in an amount not yet ascertained.
Mr. Hanson further asserts that his claims fall within the exceptions to the required
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claims described in Government Code section 905, including those arising under
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Federal and California laws (including but not limited to Fair Employment and Housing
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Act claims) and under the ordinances of the City of Camel.
5. RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS:
Jason Stilwell, City Administrator, and other employees, agents, officers, and
officials of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea whose roles and actions are not fully known at
this time.
F. AMOUNT CLAIMED:
Jurisdiction of this claim is in the Superior Court of California for the County of
Monterey. This claim would not be classified as a limited Civil Case. Claimant claims
attorney fees and costs incurred in bringing and prosecuting the claim, including any
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litigation arising out of the claim.
Dated: December 17, 2013
JOHN HANSON, CLAIMANT
Michael W. Stamp
Molly E. Erickson
LAW OFFICES OF MICHAEL W. STAMP
Attorneys for Claimant,
John Hanson
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NOTICE OF GOVERNMENT CLAIM
PROOF OF SERVICE
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF MONTEREY
3 I am employed in the County of Monterey, State of California. I am over the age
of 18, and not a party to the within action. My business address is 479 Pacific St., Suite
4 One, Monterey, California 93940.
5 On December 17, 2013, I served the foregoing document described as follows:
6 NOTICE OF GOVERNMENT CLAIM
7 with the filed petition attached, as follows:
8 ( X ) by personal service on:
9 Addressed as follows:
1 0 City Clerk
City of Carmel-by-the-Sea
11 Monte Verde Street, between
Ocean & Avenue
12 Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
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14 Executed and delivered on December 17, 2013 at Monterey, California.
15 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that
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the above is true and correct.
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JOHN HANSON, CLAIMANT
NOTICE OF GOVERNMENT CLAIM