OAKLAND — An Alameda County jury Monday found that Oakland Councilwoman Desley Brooks should pay $550,000 in punitive damages to former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown.
The same jury in December awarded Brown $3.75 million in a civil lawsuit she filed against the city of Oakland and Brooks, claiming the councilwoman injured her during an alleged assault on Oct. 30, 2015 at Everett and Jones Barbeque. Brooks, 56, shoved Brown, 74, causing her to fall and injure her rotator cuff.
Jurors found Brown — who was 72 at the time of the incident — was the victim of elder abuse and battery and unanimously agreed Brooks was working within the scope of employment as a city employee. While the award in the December verdict applies to the city of Oakland, jurors returned to court Monday to decide if Brooks should pay out of her own pocket for punitive damages.
Before closing remarks, Brown’s attorney, Charles Bonner, called his final witness, a council aide who worked for Brooks until Oct. 12, 2017. Sidney Wilson testified that Brooks “pinched and shoved” him while they were serving food at an event in East Oakland on Oct. 7, 2017. Wilson said Brooks had left the food line to speak to a constituent and pushed him to get her spot back serving macaroni.
“She pinched me and shoved my arm to take her place back in the serving line. The shove was deliberate. I was honestly shocked,” Wilson said. Wilson, who also testified that Brooks was verbally abusive, said he quit “due to the totality of abuse.”
On the stand Monday, Brooks denied the altercation took place. The councilwoman said she gave Wilson the option to resign or be fired because of his performance. “I had no knowledge of the pinch until I saw his resignation letter,” Brooks said.
Wilson is the second person to accuse the East Oakland councilwoman of assault. In a court deposition, Carlos Plazola said that around 2005, Brooks pushed him out of a room at City Hall when he worked for then-Council President Ignacio De La Fuente. Brooks denied shoving Plazola in her court deposition.
Bonner had urged the jury to award punitive damages in the range of $1 million to $3 million to “prevent this conduct from happening again.”
Defense attorney Warren Metlitzky said the $3.75 million jury verdict has already served as punishment against Brooks. In closing remarks, Metlitzky reminded the jury that the punitive damages cannot be higher than what Brooks can afford to pay. The councilwoman said she earns $82,000 a year in salary, has less than $5,000 in her savings account and is still paying off $150,000 in law school loans.
“That’s a verdict she’ll have to live with for the rest of her life,” the attorney said.
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