On Dec. 9, a U.S. Northern District judge rejected the wrongful-dismissal lawsuit of a former Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police officer who was the subject of a controversial body camera video depicting a bloody use-of-force incident while employed at San Jose State University.
Johnathon Silva was hired by Los Gatos in September 2018 after successfully emerging from an SJSU internal affairs probe into that 2016 arrest.
He says the Town moved to fire him after that video became public and community pressure against him mounted.
“Silva alleges that Defendants terminated his employment in response to public pressure,” Judge Edward J. Davila said in his order. “This allegation, without more, is insufficient to state a cognizable substantive due process claim.”
Davila explained in the relevant case law, Engquist vs. Oregon Department of Agriculture, the fired plaintiff couldn’t get a job despite submitting about 200 job applications—and yet that still wasn’t enough to show the violation of the right to future work.
In fact, the employee would have to show “stigmatizing actions” would make it “virtually impossible” to get another job in his field, Davila added.
‘There are no factual allegations from which to reasonably infer defendants’ actions destroyed his freedom to take advantage of other employment opportunities’
—District Judge Edward J. Davila
“Silva does not allege that Defendants took any stigmatizing action, much less action akin to ‘blacklisting’ him from working as a police officer,” he said. “There are no factual allegations from which to reasonably infer Defendants’ actions ‘destroyed’ his freedom to take advantage of other employment opportunities.”
So, Silva’s due-process claim “fails to satisfy the standard articulated in Engquist” and his complaint can’t be tweaked and resubmitted to the court “because allowing for further amendment would be futile,” Davila ordered.
Suzanne Solomon, a lawyer for Los Gatos with San Francisco-based Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, declined to comment on the decision.
In the 2016 use-of-force video, Silva is seen bloodying a man suspected of masturbating to porn.
The suspect ended up with a broken eye socket and fractured ribs, and was in the hospital for more than a week, according to KQED.
It was released under new police transparency laws.
Silva was found to have used excessive force, which put other officers and the public in danger. He was fired, but that decision was overturned on appeal.
Silva was cleared by LGMSPD in the violent 2019 arrest of a different man, who claimed to have a brain tumor. In that video, released by Los Gatos police, Silva can be seen apparently preventing the suspect from recording their interaction.
On July 11, 2019, Silva was told he was being fired, according to his lawsuit.
Silva’s complaint claimed he was to be terminated from the Los Gatos department “based solely on public pressure” and was found to be “above average” for patrol stops.
Los Gatos “was made aware of each and every component” of the contentious SJSU arrest, when he was preparing to work in the community, the suit stated.
Meanwhile, Los Gatos claimed its former chief, Peter Decena couldn’t be sued because of “qualified immunity.”
Town lawyers argued Silva failed to assert Los Gatos officials did anything unconstitutional, adding if the video led to his termination, the blame falls on him.
Mike McGill, Silva’s attorney, did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit dismissal.
