LA courts sent emails to judges, employees of widespread virus outbreak

Among reports that a court interpreter died of COVID-19, a watchdog group posted internal emails of never publicly seen daily reports of infections among judges, staff and litigants in the Los Angeles County Superior Court system.

The emails appear to reveal that nine to15 coronavirus cases a day were reported in LA courts over four consecutive days in January.

The emails were posted on Twitter last week by a nonprofit organization known as Court Watch Los Angeles, whose stated mission is to "observe and report about proceedings" in LA courthouses.

Rebecca Brown, a legal fellow with the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles who runs a tip line for Court Watch, said she received the emails from a court employee last week.

"Before, there was just no transparency at all," Brown said in a phone interview Thursday. "It's a good first step, I guess, to let people know that there has been someone who tested positive on a particular floor for example, and maybe be extra cautious if you can. But I think more information is going to be needed so people can respond appropriately."

"I think they should absolutely post these [emails] to the superior court website," she added.

After Assembly Bill 685 went into effect Jan. 1, requiring public and private employers to notify employees of potential exposures to COVID-19 within one business day of learning of the infection, court leadership began sharing daily reports among court staff. The email notifications included the number of reported cases, which court, and on what floor the infection occurred.

Responding Friday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Communications Director Ann Donlan said not only is the court in full compliance with AB 685, but the notices sent to employees also include all positive test cases throughout the county.

When asked if the court also notifies attorneys who regularly appear in court of potential infections, Donlan said, "All identified close contacts of individuals" who tested positive, are contacted.

When asked to verify what the emails appear to show -- an increase in coronavirus cases at the court -- Donlan said the court had in fact seen an increase.

"As in all of Los Angeles County, the court has seen a corresponding increase in infections since the holidays," she said in an email. "However, there is no indication of an increased infection rate beyond that in the county related to the workplace."

Per AB 685, employers are required to alert local public health agencies within 48 hours of a COVID-19 outbreak, defined in most instances as three confirmed cases at a single workplace within a two-week period.

The LA County court system is the largest in the country with 511 judges, 73 commissioners and nearly 600 active courtrooms in 39 courthouses.

At least two courthouses are experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Sixty-one cases have been confirmed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, the main site for civil cases, and 16 at the Metropolitan Courthouse that handles mostly misdemeanors and traffic cases in downtown Los Angeles, according to the department.

Critical of the court's COVID-19 protocol, Court Watch said in a statement Friday that the death of Sergio Cafaro, an interpreter who worked at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown LA, was "directly tied to the Los Angeles Superior Court's refusal to allow court staff to quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19."

Court Watch alleged that Cafaro contracted the coronavirus after 18 interpreters at the Foltz courthouse were exposed to a member of the court staff there who tested positive. After learning, through word-of-mouth, that they had been exposed to someone who tested positive, the interpreters sought sick leave to quarantine, Court Watch said in a statement.

Few of the interpreters were granted leave for a full two weeks, despite doctors' notes confirming their need to quarantine, Court Watch said in its statement.

"It's a pretty huge failing on the part of the courts," Brown said.

Court Watch issued the statement regarding Cafaro's death late in the day Friday. Donlan said the court is preparing a statement concerning Cafaro's death but it was not ready by the publishing of this story.

After Cafaro's death, The California Federation of Interpreters, Local 3900, issued a statement demanding, "The Superior Courts, and its divisions, timely grant full paid leave to those employees who have had to quarantine."

"Many court interpreters -- including Mr. Cafaro -- believed that Superior Court administrators had not sufficiently enforced COVID-19 protocols for quarantining and had not done enough to protect the health of court interpreters and the public they serve," federation members said in a memoriam posted to their website.

Stephano Medina, an attorney with the Eviction Defense Network, and vocal critic of former Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge Kevin Brazile's handling of the pandemic, said he and a coalition of organizations have called on the court to cease certain trials and other proceedings requiring litigants to come into court.

Members of the public are not screened for COVID-19 when entering the courthouses, there are no temperature checks or questions about symptoms, Medina said in an interview Thursday. He said he and his coalition have attempted to communicate with the court.

"Our demands are: One, no nonessential court proceedings until the stay at home orders are lifted," Medina said. "Our second demand is that any criminal defendant that is being held on bail, while the court proceedings are postponed, should be released on their own recognizance."

"Our last demand, that we haven't had any progress on, has been our demand that the Los Angeles Superior Court leadership meet with stakeholders so that we can come up with a COVID-safe policy together," Medina said.