Deputy Files Lawsuit Over Suspension

A Ventura County sheriff’s deputy who had his pay cut 5% and received a five-day suspension last year after allegedly injuring his mother-in-law during a domestic dispute filed a lawsuit Monday, claiming he was unfairly disciplined.

The lawsuit, filed in Ventura County Superior Court by Deputy Christopher Williams, asks the court to overturn a ruling by the county’s Civil Service Commission, which upheld the discipline.

During an argument on March 31, 1993, Williams physically ejected his mother-in-law from his Thousand Oaks apartment, records say.

The woman, identified in court records as Coy Phillips, injured an arm in the incident, the records said. Williams refused to cooperate with a sergeant and fellow deputy who arrived to investigate the mother-in-law’s complaint, the records say. He would not let them into his apartment, but his wife did, the records say.

The discipline for battery and insubordination was handed down by the Sheriff’s Department in August, 1993. It was upheld by the Civil Service Commission in March.

Before the commission, Williams’ lawyer argued that the evidence against his client was inadmissible because he did not agree to allow the responding deputies inside his apartment.