Farmers Insurance Group v. County of Santa Clara

Opinion

BAXTER, J.

This case presents the issue whether, under the Tort Claims Act (Gov. Code, §§ 825-825.6, 995-996.6), the County of Santa Clara (the County) must indemnify one of its deputy sheriffs and pay his costs for defending against a sexual harassment lawsuit where the evidence is undisputed that the deputy sheriff lewdly propositioned and offensively touched other deputy sheriffs working at the county jail. We conclude the answer is no. Under the Tort Claims Act, a public entity is required to pay claims and defense costs arising out of a civil lawsuit only where the employee proves…