SAN FRANCISCO—Magen Hayashi, who worked as an investigator for San Francisco’s District Attorney’s Office, is suing her former boss Chesa Boudin and other attorneys for Violation of the Labor Code, Violation of San Francisco Campaign and Government Conduct Code, and Defamation. The lawsuit was filed on September 29.
She claims that her former colleagues created “a pattern and practice of prosecutorial misconduct” and “likely illegal activities” related to the prosecution of two San Francisco police officers. She worked in the Independent Investigations Bureau unit which is responsible for investigating police misconduct and shootings.
Hayashi testified in a San Francisco court back in January claiming that she was told by prosecutors to remove exculpatory evidence from an arrest warrant in a police abuse case. The case was against San Francisco police Officer Terrance Stangel who was accused of assault in the beating of Dacari Spiers in 2019.
She testified that she was directed by Assistant District Attorney Hans Moore, the lead prosecutor, to remove parts of the arrest warrant affidavit that described Spiers abusing his girlfriend by a 911 caller.
Hayashi said she believed she would have been fired if she refused to withhold evidence.
The Plaintiff reported this activity on at least seven occasions to various individuals within the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, including District Attorney Investigations Management, supervising attorneys, the District Attorney, the San Francisco Whistleblower Office and the San Francisco Ethics Commission.
According to the lawsuit, defendants were aware of Hayashi’s well-founded concerns as they were reported to them and her immediate supervisor, Jeff Pailet. In response to the concerns raised by Hayashi, defendants summarily terminated Pailet. After his wrongful termination, the defendants’ malfeasance continued. She continued to object to the unlawful conduct and was subjected to retaliation and slander by the defendants.
Hayashi protested these violations of law and refused to take part in the improper drafting and issuance of the search warrant, arrest warrants and associated documents. As a result of her whistleblower activities, she was constructively terminated from her employment in retaliation for refusing to allow or take part in the improper creation and issuance of the search warrants, arrest warrants, and associated documents and reporting these violations.
Hayashi requested that the malfeasance of her 16 superiors be investigated on multiple occasions and in each instance the District Attorney’s office refused to do any investigation.
The San Francisco News reached out to Boudin for comment but did not hear back before print.
