Deputy's Mel Gibson DUI Suit Headed to Trial

A lawsuit filed against the county by the deputy who arrested Mel Gibson for drunken driving on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and endured an anti-Semitic rant by the actor can go to trial, but not on a claim of retaliation, a judge ruled Thursday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Barbara Scheper denied a motion by defense attorneys to dismiss Deputy James Mee's case, saying there were grounds for a jury to decide his claims of religious discrimination and hostile work environment. However, she tossed his claim for retaliation, citing a lack of evidence.

"We're pleased we're moving forward, although we're disappointed about the retaliation ruling," said Mee's attorney, Yael Trock, after the hearing.

Although she let the case move to trial Feb. 14, Scheper said she had doubts Mee was treated differently within the sheriff's department because he is Jewish and that his more appropriate argument could have been that Gibson was given preferential treatment because he is a celebrity.

"People are offended all the time in the workplace," Scheper said.

Scheper did call Gibson's remarks a "horrible anti-Semitic tirade" and said she hoped people of all religions would be offended by them.

Mee, who filed the case in September 2010, alleges that he has been subject to repeated disciplinary action and overlooked for six to seven other positions, including that of motorcycle deputy, ever since he complained to his bosses that the Oscar-winning actor/director received preferential treatment from deputies.

Mee, who is Jewish, alleges his bosses directed him to remove parts of his arrest report about Gibson, "effectively participating in covering up the anti-Semitic posture of Mr. Gibson."

Trock said Mee's supervisors were aware that this order would be offensive to him as a Jew. "They knew he was taking it personally," Trock said.

During the July 2006 DUI arrest, Gibson said, among other things, that Jews were responsible for all the wars in the world. He later issued an apology, admitting to making "despicable" remarks and attributing his behavior to alcoholism.

Attorney Jamie Diemecke-Mayorga, on behalf of the county, said Mee's religion was never an issue and that some of the supervisors he names in his case did not even know his faith beforehand. Mee is now assigned to patrol duty at the sheriff's Santa Clarita station, said the deputy's other attorney, Etan Z. Lorant.

—City News Service