A Los Angeles Police Department officer who accused ex-mayor Eric Garcetti’s former senior counsel Rick Jacobs of sexual harassment has tentatively agreed to a settlement of his lawsuit with the city, according to court documents.

Lawyers for Matthew Garza, a Metropolitan Division officer assigned to Garcetti’s security detail for a decade, filed documents Thursday saying a tentative settlement had been reached in the case that jeopardized the former mayor’s political future and sparked widespread controversy. allegations of

misconduct

against Jacobs, a powerful political fixer and important aide to Garcetti.

on Friday,

Judge of the Los Angeles Supreme Court

Curtis a relative

notified of a “conditional” resolution of the case, canceled the scheduled start of the trial on September 5.

Any settlement involving a significant amount of money must be approved by the city council.

Attorney Greg Smith, who represents Garza, declined to comment. Typically, such settlements are reached between the city attorneys and the plaintiff’s attorneys and then approved by the municipality. Representatives for Jacobs and City Atty. Hydee Soto Feldstein did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The veteran police officer sued in July 2020 for sexual harassment and sexual harassment, alleging that from 2014 to 2019, Jacobs subjected him to tight hugs, shoulder rubs and a plethora of unwanted and unwanted sexual comments.

Garcetti witnessed some of the behavior but did not intervene, Garza’s lawsuit alleges.

Jacobs denied harassing anyone.

Garcetti, now the US ambassador to India, denied that he condoned any wrongdoing and said he would have acted immediately if he had been made aware of a problem. In a statement, he insisted he never witnessed the behavior.

The questions are over

what Garcetti could have known

prompted Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) to launch an investigation.

The investigation found that Garcetti likely knew or should have known that Rick Jacobs was sexually harassing multiple individuals and making racist remarks to others. In the meantime,

a report

who was ordered by the city attorney to assist in the defense of the Garza case concluded that Garza was not sexually harassed by Jacobs and that Garcetti did nothing wrong.

A sworn LAPD officer since 1997, Garza began working on Garcetti’s security detail in October 2013. He claimed that Jacobs would extend his hand for a supposed handshake, but then pull Garza over to give him a long, tight hug, saying at the same time, I love me, my strong LAPD cops or some other inappropriate comment, according to the indictment.

One of the mayor’s former communications directors, Naomi Seligman, testified that she complained about Jacobs

supposedly

misconduct of those of Garcetti

–

time chief of staff, Ana Guerrero. She said nothing was ever done about it. Guerrero denies ever being told.

Another former communications director, Suzi Emmerling, testified in a June 2021 statement that after Garza’s lawsuit was filed, three people confided in her that they had also been treated by Jacobs in the same way Garza claimed he had been treated.

Garcetti denied in his own statement that he had witnessed Jacobs touching Garza inappropriately and denied hearing Jacobs discuss sex explicitly, saying such behavior would be completely out of character for Jacobs.

Garcetti was also shown a photo that appeared in The Times of Jacobs placing his hand near a man’s crotch as the two posed for a group photo at a convention in Miami in 2017. Garcetti stands next to the two men and others, smiling and giving a double thumbs up gesture.

Asked to explain why his former assistant made the gesture, the mayor replied: No. You should ask Mr. Jacobs.

Garcetti added that he absolutely did not see the gesture at the time.

Jacobs has called his lawsuit a work of pure fiction. Jacobs raised millions of dollars in support of Garcetti’s 2013 mayoral campaign and was a top city hall deputy before stepping down in 2016. He continued to work as a political consultant for Garcetti and helped run two non-profit organizations associated with the mayor until he stepped down from those roles. .

Dozens of former and current staffers have testified in the Garza case. Text messages were also produced during those statements, including messages from Alex Comisar, who served as Garcetti’s communications director. In the exchange, Comisar wrote to a former Garcetti staffer in a text message: Hit by Rick again. In subsequent testimony, Comisar said he had no recollection of writing the lyrics and denied ever feeling harassed by Jacobs. for Garza, that he too was harassed by Jacobs. I’m sure hugged. You know, pretty much, you know, my biceps would be grabbed, right, squeezed. Occasionally, you know, I might sit down, he’d stand behind me and do a quick massage, Casas said, according to a transcript of the statement. In another statement, Julia Brooke Ciardullo, Garcetti’s former lead attorney , described a 2017 incident in a crowded elevator at the US Capitol in Washington. Once in the elevator, Jacobs joked that the elevator was cramped, invading her personal space and getting too close, Ciardullo tested in her statement. told him to cut it out, she said. And he was, you know, joking and laughing and… I can’t remember if I told him to take it out again, but basically the mayor told him too. And I’m not saying those were his exact words, but… [Garcetti]

said something to the effect of, you know, stop or quit. She also tested that what happened in the elevator was not sexual harassment. Ms. Ciardullo is a person of high character and integrity and her description matches how he would handle any situation where he witnesses someone behaving unprofessionally.