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By Brian Hews
Los Cerritos Community News has learned that Central Basin Director Leticia Vasquez, using her husband “Sweet James” Ron Wilson as her free attorney, filed a workmen’s compensation claim in January 2022 against the very agency she was elected to serve.
Los Cerritos Community News obtained the documents via a public records request.
The lawsuit came as a surprise to Central Basin given that Vasquez is not considered an employee of the agency but an elected official, a circumstance which is certain to be litigated and cost the agency thousands in fees.
Vasquez asserts the injuries started on the day she was sworn in, January 7, 2013, and persisted for nine years until January 10, 2022; she is demanding over $2 million in compensation.
Vasquez is claiming stress, harassment, assault, and racial discrimination, which has caused “depression, sleep disorder, high blood pressure, chest pain, stomach pain, headaches, migraines, shortness of breath, pain, and numbness in neck, both shoulders, both arms, both wrists, both hands, bioth [sic] legs, and both feet.”
The lawsuit is a blatant money grab of taxpayer dollars by Vasquez and her litigious husband.
In 2021, a very relaxed Leticia Vasquez was seen on video casually strolling through Central Basin offices with her associate Joey Martinez looking to harass and confront employees saying on the video, “we’re here to start a ruckus.”
Vasquez is seen bending over to get into drawers and carrying reams of documents, with no sign of medical braces or distress.
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Just months earlier, Vasquez is seen calmly walking around Downey’s water facility claiming the water was “undrinkable.” Once again, Vasquez showed no outwardly sign of injury.
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In 2017, LCCN obtained a surveillance video of Vasquez living at her husband’s house, which was out of the district. The video was shot over several days, with one clip showing Vasquez hustling down four flights of stairs, not using the handrail while carrying a large purse and water in one hand, and finally hopping into her Toyota four-wheel-drive truck without using the assist step to enter.
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And in 2014, one year after he initial injury on January 7, 2013, LCCN posted the now-infamous picture of Vasquez sitting comfortably at the CCA-Legislative Days conference in Sacramento.
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Vasquez at the conference, at the time she was in the majority and had removed Art Chacon as president and the late Phil Hawkins off the MWD Real Estate Committee for no reason.
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The worker’s compensation lawsuit is one of two lawsuits Vasquez has against Central Basin; public records show that the agency has spent nearly $170,000 in legal fees while Vasquez’ husband is free.
Emails into Vasquez and Wilson went unanswered.
