A former Orange County Assistant District Attorney was awarded $3 million by a San Diego jury this week after they found that she was forced to retire as a result of harassment from District Attorney Todd Spitzer and his assistant Shawn Nelson. 

Tracy Miller said that her time as the top female prosecutor working under the elected DA was tense and toxic. 

"There were days that I was terrified to go to work, especially after the report came out where I reported that Todd Spitzer was trying to fire a woman for merely reporting sexual harassment," Miller told CBS News Los Angeles. "I was scared to go. I thought I'd be fired any day."

During a news conference on Friday, attorney John Barnett said that Miller was punished after she came forward with reports that a lower level DA's claim that a supervisor in the office named Gary LoGalbo was sexually harassing her. In the time since, more than a half dozen other women have filed related lawsuits against Orange County. 

"The people deserve better than the Orange County Board of Supervisors spending millions and millions and millions of taxpayer dollars defending this corrupt DA," Miller said. 

In response to the verdict, Spitzer shared a statement saying that he accepts full responsibility. In full, the statement said:

"As the elected District Attorney, I accept full responsibility for any and all actions which occur in my administration, including my own actions and the actions of my former Chief Assistant District Attorney Shawn Nelson. 

When I became District Attorney in 2019, I was intently focused on reversing the "win at all costs" mentality of the prior administration which involved violating the constitutional rights of defendants by cheating and failing to discover evidence to the defense. I kept the prior executive management team, including Tracy Miller, as at-will employees held over from the Rackauckas administration in an effort to maintain stability and unite the office moving forward.  

I set a very high standard which I expected all my employees to meet, and Ms. Miller was overseeing extremely important assignments, including opioid litigation, the Huntington Beach oil spill, real estate fraud lawsuits, and grappling with a gang reduction program for school children that was facing serious financial issues. It is no secret that there was a lot of frustration on my part with her lack of performance in handling these very serious matters.  

In hindsight, I realize that I was not as sensitive to the issues Ms. Miller was facing at the time as I should have been, and for that I am truly sorry. 

I respect the jury's decision, and I am heartbroken over the fact that any of my actions could have been interpreted as anything other than a good faith effort to clean up the public corruption in the Orange County District Attorney's Office and to create a work ethic that adheres to what Orange County residents demand of its District Attorney." 

Miller said that she thinks the board of supervisors should hold Spitzer accountable. 

Supervisor Katrina Foley, who worked as an employee rights attorney, shared a quote after the verdict, which read in part, "I strongly support providing a safe, healthy and positive working environment for all of our County employees. … I take very seriously my legal duty as a County Supervisor to ensure our elected department heads comply with our Equal Employment Opportunity Policy."

Nelson currently works as a Orange County Superior Judge and LoGalbo retired during the claims. He has since died.