Deputy James Mee, Deputy Who Arrested Mel Gibson, Will Get A Jury To Hear His Case

LOS ANGELES — A jury should decide whether the sheriff's deputy who arrested Mel Gibson for drunken driving suffered workplace discrimination, a judge ruled Thursday despite expressing serious concerns about whether the man can win his case.

Superior Court Judge Barbara Scheper said James Mee should be allowed to argue to jurors that he suffered discrimination and a hostile work environment after arresting Gibson in Malibu in 2006.

Mee, who is Jewish, claims his Christian superior officers ordered him to remove Gibson's anti-Semitic remarks from a report and then ostracized him and blocked his chances for a promotion.

Attorneys for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department have denied any wrongdoing and written in court filings that the deputy was insubordinate at times after Gibson's arrest and subjected to the same discipline as others.

Mee was investigated as the potential source who leaked his initial report containing Gibson's anti-Semitic rant, but after a lengthy investigation prosecutors found no evidence that he provided the details to celebrity website TMZ.

Scheper noted that Mee remains a deputy, although he no longer patrols for drunken drivers in the coastal community of Malibu. She dismissed his allegation Thursday that he was retaliated against and questioned whether he would be able to recoup any damages at trial.

While Mee complained to others in the department that Gibson's arrest was mishandled, it didn't appear he ever cited his religion as a cause for discrimination, the judge said.

"While I think it's thin, I think there are enough facts to create a question for the jury to decide," Scheper said during a hearing in which Los Angeles County attorneys tried to dismiss the case.

Mee's attorney Yael Trock said she was pleased the case is going to trial, although her client is still open to reaching a settlement. She said she did not yet know whether Gibson, who is not a party to the lawsuit, will be called as a witness.

"Mel Gibson is not the issue here," Trock said. "The issue is that the department mistreated Deputy Mee, who dared to arrest Mel Gibson and treated him like any other person."

Gibson's arrest and the revelation of his anti-Semitic rant in Mee's patrol car damaged the Oscar-winning director's reputation for years. He apologized for his conduct and his conviction was expunged in 2009 after he completed all the terms of his sentence.

A trial on Mee's allegations is scheduled to begin on Feb. 14.

___

Follow Anthony McCartney at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[David Momper]

11:21 AM on 01/14/2012

Mel Gibson wont be remembered for the movies he's done but instead will be remembered for the racist drunk he is. Suits me just fine.

[missyinSoCal]

03:31 PM on 01/12/2012

Oh no, he treated a "celebrity" like a normal person? What's this world coming to..... Get over yourself Mel, and the rest of the celebrity idiots who commit a crime then expect to be treated differently. Do the crime, do the time.

[EliErickson]

05:26 PM on 01/12/2012

He did the time. Did the probation, the AA, the counseling. He had nothing to do with this. He even sat down with this cop for lunch and sincerely apologized for his behavior.

[Sylvia Welborn]

07:34 PM on 01/29/2012

Yes he had something to do with this, he was the catalyst that started the ball rolling. He treated the whole situation very cavalier and expected special treatment. Unfortunately, the sheriff's department under their current direction felt it necessary to have the original report altered (don't want to make Gibson look bad) and it was brought to light be TMZ,The deputies record was examined with a microscope hoping that the department could shift the blame for the uproar on him Deputy Mee, was doing a job no more or less than he did everyday regardless of who he encountered.. Should he be punished for this, I think not. The lawsuit filed on his behalf is not seeking monetary payout, however, is looking to encourage change in the departments policy.Hat's off to Deputy Mee for hanging in there!