El Paso County Reaches Settlement โขin Wrongful Termination โSuit with Former Assistant District Attorney
EL โฃPASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4)โ – Elโฃ Pasoโ County Commissioners have settled a lawsuitโค brought by โformer โAssistant district Attorney John Briggs, who alleged he was wrongfully terminated in โขAugust โ2022.โค The resolution comes afterโ more than two hours of closed-door deliberation.
Briggs, who previously served as a prosecutor โon the August 3rd walmart shooting case,โค filedโ suit inโ 2024 claiming his dismissal was part of โขa politically โคmotivated scheme orchestrated by then-District Attorney โYvonne Rosales. He alleged Rosales attempted โto conceal her office’s involvement in a gag order violation related to the shooting and pressured him โtoโฃ sign a โfalse affidavit, which he refused.Briggs also contestedโฃ a โคnegative performance review he stated he never received or had the opportunity to address.
“It’sโ nice to haveโ a little bit of โpublicโฃ vindication,” Briggs said following the settlement announcement. he noted the financial โimpactโค of his termination, โstating, “I lost my employment. โขAnd so I had lost wages, lost benefits, things of that nature,” and that he subsequently spent five months prosecuting cases in Odessa to continue hisโ work.
Inโ a statement readโ by El Paso Countyโ Commissioner โIliana Holguin, the โcounty acknowledged Briggs’ years of service. โ”The county of El Paso appreciates the long record of service that โJohn Briggs has โฃprovided to โthe office of the district attorney. Mr.Briggs should notโ have been terminated from his employment with the officeโ ofโ the district โattorneyโ byโ the district attorney in place at the time of his termination,” the โฃstatement read.
Details of the settlement, including the financial terms, were notโ disclosed by โขBriggs, โฃwho indicated he would await finalization of โฃpaperwork and a county judge’s approval before commenting further.
