Investigation: Derek Tran repped client who hung noose in office
Derek Tran took the case of a man who hung a noose in his office—a racist display targeting his African-American employees, a POLITICO investigation exposed.
When Derek Tran deleted his law firm website that read “Derek is personally involved in every aspect of every case,” it was evident Tran had something to hide.
Today’s revelations about Tran’s cases destroyed the last shred of his credibility — and Tran knows it as he “declined to comment on the individual cases.”
“Disgusting hypocrite Derek Tran staked his campaign on a lie that he represented victims when in reality, he represented perpetrators and abusers for profit. Tran’s shocking cases demonstrate his dangerously compromised judgement and complete unfitness for office.” – NRCC Spokesperson Ben Petersen
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A Democrat in a key House race is running on his law career. It could be a liability.
POLITICO
Melanie Mason
Derek Tran’s client list includes a man who was fired after displaying a noose in his office and another accused of sexual assault.
LOS ANGELES — Derek Tran, a Democrat running for one of the most competitive House seats in the country, has touted his career as a trial lawyer to portray himself as a champion of underdogs. But some of his former clients could become a political liability, including one man who was fired after displaying a noose in his office.
The first-time candidate’s work representing plaintiffs in wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment and personal injury cases has come under the microscope as he mounts a vigorous challenge to Republican Rep. Michelle Steel of California in one of the races that could determine control of the House.
As the race heats up, Steel has looked for chances to rough up the image of a novice candidate who is still introducing himself to voters. Steel’s team has lobbed a series of attacks aimed at Tran’s credibility, even questioning his fluency in Vietnamese — a selling point with a key voting bloc in the Orange County district.
Now, Steel is increasingly homing in on a handful of cases where Tran represented less-sympathetic legal clientele, including a man who said he was wrongfully fired after sexual assault complaints, to poke holes in her rival’s pitch to voters.
“It’s despicable that the guy who says he’s involved ‘in every aspect of every case’ pro-actively represented not only an alleged sexual predator but also a racist who admittedly hung a noose in his office,” said Lance Trover, her campaign spokesperson. “Voters deserve answers.”
The barbs have become more pointed as Tran shows momentum, with a strong fundraising showing and two nonpartisan campaign prognosticators shifting their race rating in his direction.
Tran’s campaign declined to comment on the individual cases. Instead, his spokesperson pivoted to attacking Steel’s record on women’s reproductive health issues, which has emerged as the Democrats’ primary message as they try to oust the two-term congressmember.
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Tran has been an attorney since 2014 and started his own Huntington Beach firm in 2020. The Tran firm focused on personal injury and employment law, according to its now-defunct website.
He has made that experience, along with his status as an Army veteran, a centerpiece of his campaign biography. His website says he eschewed “high paying jobs in corporate law” and instead “chose to open up his small business in Orange County and fight for immigrants, workers, survivors of sexual harassment, and consumers.”
Among his more notable wins was a 2018 wrongful termination lawsuit, in which he represented a paralegal who said she was fired after reporting an incident of sexual harassment. A jury awarded the woman more than $2 million in punitive damages.
But the Steel team points to a trio of cases that, in their view, undercut his feel-good description of his resume.
In 2019, Tran represented a former Sacramento-area Safeway store manager who said he was unlawfully fired after facing complaints that he displayed a noose on the wall of his office for a month. The lawsuit alleged Tran’s client was falsely accused of being racist and that he was “a scapegoat to avoid negative publicity during the Black Lives Matter movement.” Tran’s client, who is white, said Safeway discriminated against him because of his color and race.
The store manager acknowledged, in court documents, that he knew a noose could be seen as a symbol of hanging Black people, but said that was not the case nowadays and insisted he had no racist intent. After a year and a half of litigation, Safeway reached a settlement agreement with Tran’s client.
Tran also that year represented another fired Safeway store manager who alleged he was terminated in retaliation for his involvement in previous lawsuits against the company. Safeway countered that the man had a long history of workplace complaints against him, including making sexually inappropriate comments to female subordinates and violating store policy in disputes with Hispanic and Black customers. A judge found that Safeway had “more than good cause” to fire the employee, a ruling that was backed up by an appeals court.
He also represented a Costco employee in San Bernardino who was fired in 2021 after three female co-workers accused him of sexual assault. His client sued for wrongful termination, alleging Costco conducted a “sham investigation” and that he was being discriminated against for his gender “due to the political climate and ‘me too’ movement.”
That case, which was taken over by another practice that acquired the Tran Firm in 2023, is set to go to trial next May. Details of that case were first reported by journalist Jake Lahut last month.
The Steel campaign has relentlessly hammered Tran’s association with the Costco employee lawsuit since the news broke. Trover, her spokesperson, has wedged in references to the case in even tenuously related news releases, including an announcement of Steel’s first television ad about how she and her husband used IVF to have their children.