A judge found Montclair Councilman Ben Lopez civilly liable for sexual harassment this week for subjecting two current male city employees to repeated unwanted sexual advances, according to court documents and interviews.
But despite repeated calls from city leaders and residents for his resignation, Lopez has given no indication he plans to step down. His decision to remain on the City Council has already saddled the Pomona Valley community with hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance costs, city officials say, and compounded the toll on the two employees — both of whom still work at City Hall.
“It feels like we are back in square one,” said one plaintiff, Edmund Garcia. “I still constantly feel like I have to watch my back.”
Lopez has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and continued to do so even after the ruling.
“I have maintained my innocence. I don’t think the city should have been dragged into this proceeding at all,” he said during a council meeting Monday. Lopez did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Times this week.
Only Montclair voters have the power to strip Lopez of his position, according to Brian Hannemann, an attorney who represented Garcia and his co-plaintiff, Mikey Fuentes. Because the case was tried in civil court, Lopez does not meet the legal threshold to be automatically removed from the council — which would require him to be convicted of a criminal felony.
“In any other workplace, a supervisor found liable for this conduct would be fired immediately,” Hannemann said. “But because he’s an elected official, the victims still have to see him wield power. That’s the injustice here.”
In the decision released Monday, San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Kory Mathewson concluded that Lopez violated California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act by repeatedly subjecting Garcia and Fuentes to unwanted sexual advances, including anonymously sending explicit photographs and messages on dating apps.
The court found Lopez liable not only for sexual harassment but also for fraud, oppression and malice, a high legal standard that allowed for punitive damages. Each plaintiff was awarded $488,000, with Lopez also ordered to reimburse the city of Montclair for its settlement costs and legal fees.
The lawsuit has already cost Montclair taxpayers more than $950,000, according to City Manager Edward Starr, who said Lopez’s refusal to resign has exposed the city to continued liability, potentially to the tune of $500,000 in additional annual insurance costs. Those combined costs would represent 3.7% of Montclair’s entire general fund budget of $39.5 million for the current fiscal year.
“That is money that should have gone to our parks, our police, our roads, but was wasted on the actions of one man,” said resident Alice Garcia, Edmund’s mother, at a council meeting Monday. “Mr. Lopez, you have cost this city our reputation. You have cost the taxpayers over half a million dollars, and you have cost my family our peace of mind.”
According to court findings, Lopez used fake names like “Looking2Suck,” and “Down2Play” on dating apps and sought out Garcia, an IT supervisor with the city, even though he was a direct subordinate.
In messages, he obscured his face, sent graphic sexual images and repeatedly invited Garcia to engage in anonymous sex, which he refused.
“If we could do that totally anonymously between us. Know a way we could? Where we didn’t have to see each other’s face at all the first time? Leave the mystique and get the deed done type thing,” Lopez wrote in messages detailed in court records.
But in later messages, Lopez allegedly sent a photograph of his face. Garcia told The Times he felt disturbed and feared the communications could be used to manipulate or blackmail him.
Lopez has maintained he was hacked or impersonated online, a defense Mathewson rejected given the evidence, including financial records tied to the accounts involved.
Fuentes, the city’s director of economic development and housing, testified that Lopez subjected him to unwanted comments about his appearance, sexuality and personal life, culminating in a two-hour lunch meeting that Fuentes believed was work-related, but instead devolved into probing questions about his sexuality.
Both men reported Lopez to city leadership in 2021. A third-party investigator retained by the city later substantiated their allegations and found Lopez not credible, according to the court’s findings.
The City Council formally censured Lopez in 2022, barred him from committee appointments and limited his interactions with city staff outside of meetings. He also may not enter most city facilities, restrictions that Starr said are difficult to enforce and have already disrupted operations.
Under California law, the city has limited authority for further discipline, Mayor John Dutrey said at a Dec. 15 council meeting, where he and other board members urged Lopez to resign and “save the city further embarrassment.”
“But that is unlikely,” Dutrey said.
Lopez has been on the council since 2020 and was reelected to a second term in 2024.
Garcia and Fuentes both remain employed by the city, but said the case has altered their day-to-day work lives. Fuentes no longer attends council meetings in person, even though they’re a primary job responsibility. Both men said they have avoided public events where Lopez may appear, according to interviews and transcripts.
“I grew up in Montclair,” Garcia said. “I was already someone that loved talking to the public, that was always at the events, council meetings and grand openings for businesses. I was always there meeting new people and trying to bring a happy face. … Now I can’t do that.”
The ruling follows years of controversy surrounding Lopez, who previously lobbied against gay marriage and other issues through the Traditional Values Coalition, a now-defunct conservative Christian organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center designated an anti-LGBTQ hate group.
“I cannot control what people think of me,” Lopez said during Monday’s council meeting. “To anyone who feels I have harmed them, hurt them, et cetera, actual or perceived, my apologies.”
Starr said he is working with the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office to explore legal avenues to remove Lopez from office, including by proving he committed a felony or betrayed his oath of office.
The only alternatives would be for Lopez to resign, for voters to remove him through a costly recall election, or through the passage of a state law expanding on violations that trigger removal. His current council term runs until 2028.
“Elected officials should be held accountable for their actions,” Fuentes said. “The state needs to use the legislative process to explore what mechanisms are available to deal with a rogue council member.”
In the meantime, the council will host a closed-session meeting next month to consider stripping Lopez of his monthly pay and benefits.
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