Discrimination suit settled for $325,000

A Los Angeles County prosecutor who alleged he was the victim of discrimination and harassment at work because of his sexual orientation will receive a $325,000 settlement in a lawsuit against the county.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Kraut alleged that some colleagues targeted him with anti-gay jokes and other comments, and that the district attorney’s office retaliated against him when he complained by transferring him to its welfare fraud section.

The county denied the allegations and said in court records that supervisors concluded Kraut had harassed other prosecutors in the office. The Board of Supervisors approved a settlement of the lawsuit earlier this week.

Kraut’s attorney and a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment.

Kraut, a 20-year veteran of the office, was among the first to raise concerns about now-disgraced former Los Angeles Police Department Officer Rafael Perez.

More than a year after Kraut reported his concerns, Perez attempted to steal 6 pounds of cocaine from the department’s evidence locker, touching off an investigation into allegations of widespread corruption that became known as the Rampart scandal.