San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer may have defamed a former county administrator after he accused her of engaging in an illegal back-room deal two years ago, a judge ruled Friday.
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The ruling by Judge Evan P. Kirvin means the defamation claim by former assistant chief administrative officer Michael Vu against Lawson-Remer, and his other claims against San Diego County and former Supervisor Nora Vargas, may proceed to trial.
The judge also rejected the defense argument that Vu should not be allowed to seek punitive damages from the county and supervisors. That means if he prevails at trial, taxpayers could be on the hook for additional damages.
Kirvin ruled that Lawson-Remer could have defamed the former official when she publicly labeled him a “disgruntled employee” and when she called his claim that she secretly thwarted a promotion “absurd and false.”
Lawson-Remer’s public response to Vu’s allegations said the allegations were “nothing more than sour grapes.” The judge said a jury might reasonably conclude the comment impugned the plaintiff’s character.
“Assuming that the allegations in the (lawsuit) are true, which we must for the purpose of a demurrer, defendant knew that the allegations in the (lawsuit) were true but made public statements attacking plaintiff’s character and honesty regardless,” Kirvin wrote.
“Such allegations are sufficient to support findings of malice and defamation if proven true,” the judge added in his tentative ruling, which was issued late Thursday and upheld at the end of the Friday hearing.
Lawyers for Lawson-Remer did not deny that the elected official called Vu a “disgruntled employee” or that she said he had “sour grapes” over being passed over for the CAO job. Instead, attorney Jennifer Santa Maria told Kirvin the statements were not defamatory.
“Her statement about his being disgruntled reflects her opinion about his state of mind,” she told the judge. “It is unprovable.”
The argument did not persuade Kirvin to change his preliminary ruling.
Vu was hired as an assistant San Diego County registrar of voters in 2007 and oversaw elections for years until he was promoted by longtime top county executive Helen Robbins-Meyer to assistant chief administrative officer.
When Robbins-Meyer planned to retire as chief administrative officer in 2024, she recommended Vu as her successor. But after supervisors offered the job to Ebony Shelton, another longtime county official and deputy chief, Vu sued the county.
The longtime county official, who formally resigned in late 2024 and now works as a San Bernardino County government executive, accused Vargas and Lawson-Remer of separately interfering in the hiring process to deny him the top job.
More specifically, Vu accused then-board chair Vargas of telling Robbins-Meyer in late 2022 or early 2023 that “We need a person of color” to take over as chief administrative officer, according to the claim.
The complaint also said Robbins-Meyer responded by noting Vu was Asian, to which Vargas allegedly said, “That doesn’t count, they have opportunities and education. We need a Hispanic or Black.”
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Vargas, who resigned in 2025 just weeks after winning re-election, issued a statement at the time denying Vu’s allegations.
“I unequivocally deny making any statements that promote or condone discrimination based on race, ethnicity or national origin,” she said then. “The allegations made against me are not only false but totally contradict my values and record.”
Later in 2023, according to Vu’s lawsuit, Lawson-Remer told him in a private phone call that she would support him for the CAO — but only if he agreed to hire Paul Worlie as his top assistant.
Such an alleged deal would be a violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act, the state law that requires public business to be conducted in public.
Vu alleged that Lawson-Remer made the same offer in a private conversation with Robbins-Meyer, who later memorialized the alleged discussion in an email to then-County Counsel Claudia Silva.
Worlie served as chief of staff to Supervisor Nathan Fletcher before Fletcher resigned from the board in 2023 amid sexual assault allegations. Worlie now serves as the top assistant to Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, who was elected in 2025.
According to the retaliation, discrimination and defamation lawsuit Vu filed last year, the outgoing CAO was extremely troubled by her conversation with Lawson-Remer.
“Mrs. Robbins-Meyer was so upset and disturbed by the action that she went on record to confirm, complain and report it in writing to County Counsel Claudia Silva the same day that Ms. Remer proposed the backroom deal,” the suit said.
County officials hired an outside law firm to defend the case and have spent more than $250,000 to date. The county’s lawyers sought to have the email excluded from the Vu case, claiming the letter was subject to the attorney-client privilege.
But Kirvin rejected the argument in a February ruling, in part because Robbins-Meyer shared the email with Vu and because as the county’s highest-ranking official she had the authority to waive the privilege.
Lawson-Remer, who was initially elected in 2020, took over as board chair after Vargas’s surprise resignation.
She is due to leave office in 2028, unless voters next month approve a ballot measure she proposed that would, among other changes, do away with the existing two-term limit and let her and other supervisors seek a third term.
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The jury trial in Vu’s case is scheduled for April 9.
