BATON ROUGE - Matthew Derbes filed a lawsuit Oct. 3 in the East Baton Rouge District Court against the State of Louisiana, through Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and the Department of Justice.
According to the lawsuit, in October 2006, Derbes was hired to be an assistant attorney general under former AG Charles Foti. By 2018, Derbes had become Deputy Director of the Criminal Division.
In 2020, Derbes noticed that treatment for serious criminals was more lenient and women in the office began complaining about sexual harassment, the suit says. In 2021, Derbes was demoted due to retaliation after a false document was released that accused Derbes of lying and filing false public records and sexual harassment complaints, the suit says.
Derbes seeks a sum reasonable under the premises, attorney's fees and cost of suit, plus interest. Derbes is represented by Jill L. Craft of Baton Rouge.
The defendant removed the case to Baton Rouge federal court on Dec. 15.