A former high aide to San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus is in search of at the least $15 million in damages from the county, alleging wrongful termination, retaliation and racial discrimination tied to the discharge of a scathing investigative report into the sheriff’s workplace.
Victor Aenlle, the sheriff’s former chief of workers, filed a authorized declare accusing county officers of conspiring to “defame, retaliate, and remove” him by “orchestrating” the discharge of the Cordell report — a greater than 400-page doc detailing alleged corruption, misconduct and nepotism contained in the sheriff’s division beneath Corpus’ management.
Aenlle is in search of $5 million for misplaced earnings and reputational hurt, $5 million for emotional misery, and $5 million for punitive damages. He’s additionally requesting an unspecified quantity for authorized charges.
In his declare, Aenlle alleges that he was focused due to his race, writing that the actions taken in opposition to him constituted “treatment that was not imposed on similarly situated non-Latino employees.”
“White executive staff who reported directly to Sheriff Corpus were not publicly maligned, barred from county facilities, or subjected to retaliatory enforcement actions,” the declare states.
Aenlle was faraway from his function final yr when the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors eradicated funding for his place following the discharge of the Cordell report. He’s additionally accused of getting an inappropriate relationship with Corpus, an allegation they’ve each denied.
Aenlle was lately rehired by Corpus as a volunteer reserve deputy to assist course of hid carry weapon allow functions.
Corpus’ authorized crew lately retained former Riverside County Superior Courtroom Decide Burke E. Strunsky to conduct their very own unbiased evaluate. His report criticized the Cordell report for counting on nameless sources and unrecorded interviews, saying the credibility of witnesses couldn’t be assessed.
Corpus has additionally filed go well with in opposition to the county in search of entry to Cordell’s investigative data, together with expense stories. The county has defended each the findings of the Cordell report and its resolution to make the doc public.
County spokesperson Michelle Durand confirmed the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors acquired Aenlle’s declare and can evaluate it, however she pushed again in opposition to the allegations — particularly claims of racial discrimination and assertions that the Cordell report was a part of a coordinated effort to discredit Corpus’ management crew.
Durand additionally rejected the racial bias allegation.
“He appears to accuse Latinx people of discriminating against him for apparently being Latino with no evidence or explanation,” she stated. “In light of these and the many more obvious errors, both legal and factual, the claim should not be treated seriously.”
The declare additional accuses County Government Mike Callagy of retaliating in opposition to Aenlle by directing code enforcement and Farm Labor Process Power actions concentrating on his non-public property.
The county linked the property inspections to a broader investigation into farmworker housing circumstances following the 2023 Half Moon Bay mass taking pictures.
“Over the course of two years, some 56 properties with farmworker housing, including Mr. Aenlle’s property, were inspected,” San Mateo County stated in a press launch. “Media reports have extensively detailed serious concerns about the condition of Mr. Aenlle’s property, including unsafe and unpermitted housing and contaminated water sources, resulting in the red-tagging of one of the housing units on the property.”
This newest authorized dispute is amongst dozens of lawsuits and claims linked to the turmoil inside the sheriff’s workplace.
Earlier this month, the board of supervisors accepted procedures that may permit them to take away an elected sheriff by a four-fifths vote. Voters granted the board that energy throughout a particular election in March, wherein 24.4% of the county’s 444,497 registered voters participated. Officers estimated the election value taxpayers as much as $3.8 million.
Months because the launch of the Cordell report, stress has mounted for Corpus to resign, although she has refused and vowed to combat removing efforts in courtroom.
Aenlle stated he intends to proceed preventing, too.
“I am determined to ensure that no public servant is ever subjected to this kind of treatment again,” he stated. “And I am committed to holding those who conspired and colluded against me fully and publicly accountable.”
Initially Revealed: Might 9, 2025 at 4:02 PM PDT
