Lawyer Bills L.A. $185,000 for Holden’s Defense

The lawyer defending Los Angeles Councilman Nate Holden against sexual harassment allegations has submitted bills totaling more than $185,000, which is likely to force the City Council to lift the $150,000 cap it has placed on his legal costs.

With a trial as far off as next year, the payments are expected to keep growing. Bills are coming in at the rate of $25,000 a month, said Senior Assistant City Atty. Fred Merkin.

Holden’s lawyer, Tim Agajanian, said the payments are cost-effective for the city, which he said could owe much more if it failed to provide Holden with an adequate legal defense.

Several council members said privately that they are uncomfortable with the payments but that they have been told the city is legally required to provide Holden with a defense.

On Tuesday, the City Council rejected an offer to settle a lawsuit filed by one of three former Holden aides who have accused him of sexual harassment.

Onetime aide Carla Cavalier had offered to drop her lawsuit against Holden for $400,000, according to her attorney. Cavalier and the two other women have said they were subjected during their employment to a variety of unwanted advances, ranging from ogling and suggestive comments to lewd acts.

Holden has denied all the charges and maintained that they were made to ruin his campaign for mayor.

After a lengthy discussion of the Cavalier case Tuesday in a closed session, several council members said they thought the settlement offer was premature, coming before they had enough information to assess the case.

Another lawsuit, by onetime aide Marlee Beyda, is also pending.

In the third case, a state agency early this year declined to file an accusation after complaints by aide Connie Collins that she also was harassed. The state Department of Fair Employment and Housing has declined to say how it reached its decision.

City Council members have been cautious in dealing with the accusations and Holden’s request for a legal defense. They discussed the matter several times last year before leaving the decision to the city attorney’s office.

The city’s legal advisers said that Holden had to be provided with a defense, at taxpayers’ expense, because the accusations grew out of his employment.