Lawsuit accuses Riverside County prosecutor of sexually harassing paralegal

A former Riverside County District Attorney’s Office paralegal has accused a prosecutor of sexual harassment, including allegations that he rubbed his genitalia over the opening of her water bottle.

In a July complaint filed in Riverside County Superior Court, attorneys for Yvette Poullard accuse Deputy District Attorney Blaine Hopp of harassing her. The suit seeks Poullard’s lost wages and benefits, along with compensation for physical and emotional injuries.

Hopp did not respond to requests for comment. His attorney Daniel Spradlin, of Costa Mesa, was not available for comment Friday, Oct. 23.

In a response to the lawsuit filed in court, attorneys for Hopp and the county argue that the allegations are insufficient to merit a lawsuit, that the suit wasn’t filed soon enough and that Poullard “welcomed the conduct” and “failed to express” that it was not welcome.

The DA’s office does not comment on pending litigation, spokesman John Hall wrote in an email.

In February 2018, Poullard was a paralegal working for the DA’s firearms unit, a subdivision of the department’s mental-health unit. The suit alleges that, in February 2018, Hopp asked Poullard to help him file papers related to his divorce. She declined, but later “reluctantly” agreed to help him once.

The suit alleges that his demands went beyond one request and she complained to her supervisor. Hopp’s demands, she said, were disrupting her work, according to the suit.

“You just have to keep telling him no, because DAs don’t hear the first three,” Poullard recalled her superior saying, the suit alleges.

That same month, Poullard alleges in the suit that she saw Hopp at her cubicle quickly putting her water bottle back inside her locker. Poullard, who assumed Hopp was there to ask for more assistance with his divorce, told him she couldn’t help, the suit states.

“I don’t need your help,” the lawsuit alleges that Hopp said. “I was just bringing you gummy bears.”

When she took a sip from her water bottle, Poullard alleged in the suit that the rim tasted horrible and smelled like body odor.

“Upon inspection, plaintiff saw that the rim was wet with what appeared to be bodily fluid,” the complaint reads, in part. Poullard believed that “Hopp had rubbed his sweaty genitals on it,” the suit states.

Poullard put a note on the bottle that read “I know what you did, Blaine” and put it atop her locker, according the suit.

The complaint alleges that Hopp later “walked past plaintiff’s cubicle smirking and asked, ‘did you get my gummy bears?’”

The suit alleges that Hopp regularly went to her cubicle after that, and the next day massaged her shoulders and back over her objections, followed her around the office and ogled her with a male co-worker.

Poullard began to prepare a formal sexual harassment complaint. An investigator was assigned, but almost immediately, the suit alleges, there were new problems, including a coworker having to restrain Hopp from confronting her about the complaint.

The suit alleges Hopp would lurk outside Poullard’s cubicle, glaring at her. He is accused in the suit of loudly complaining to coworkers about the harassment complaint and following her around the office. Poullard repeatedly complained about his behavior, was told by supervisors to ignore him and found her requests for transfers denied, according the suit.

About two weeks after her initial complaint, Poullard was assigned to scan, date stamp and assemble thousands of pages of medical records, on top of her regular duties, the suit states. After a month of the additional work, she noticed she had been assigned to rescan and assemble the same documents over and over — which Poullard believed was retaliation against her, the lawsuit alleges.

After complaining to her supervisors that she no longer felt safe at work, Poullard began using sick hours in July instead of going back to work. That month, she learned that a sexual harassment complaint had not been filed with the county on her behalf as she had been told. Poullard filed a county complaint and one with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, according to the suit.

In September, Poullard received a letter from District Attorney Mike Hestrin stating that some of her allegations were substantiated and “appropriate administrative action” had been taken, the suit states. Poullard remained on leave and took early retirement in November 2018.

Hopp works as a deputy district attorney in the mental-health unit.