City of Inglewood and Mayor James T. Butts, Jr. Win More Than $217,000 Against Former Employee Melanie McDade
The Southern Truth
By Gloria Zuurveen, Editor-in-Chief, PACE NEWS
All I can say is, one former employee for the City of Inglewood FAFO.
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Yes, she did — and now she is ordered to pay the price for her frivolous action against her employer, the City of Inglewood, and its steadfast Mayor, James T. Butts, Jr., who stood their ground when someone tried to take them down. They fought the fight and won, so much so that she and her lawyers ended up losing in the end.
What really happened came to light on Tuesday, July 8, during a regular City Council meeting. Inglewood City Attorney Rick R. Olivarez read into the public record what was discussed in closed session, attended by all council members except Gray. Olivarez shared that the City Council had approved a post-judgment collection agreement and promissory note for payment of more than $217,000 in monetary sanctions imposed against Melanie McDade and her counsel. This was the result of what the court called a yearlong pattern of discovery misconduct and violations of court orders in McDade’s lawsuit against the City and Mayor Butts.
That’s a big sum of money — ordered because of a willful failure to produce evidence in her own case. The leadership of Inglewood stood strong against attempts to blame the City, when in truth, McDade’s own actions were the problem. McDade FAFO. She brought a fight claiming she had a right, but in the end, the City of Inglewood and its resolute Mayor relied on facts: McDade violated her position and was terminated as a result.
As City Attorney Olivarez read into the record: “Ms. McDade was terminated by the City in 2019 after an investigation revealed evidence of serious misconduct.”
City Attorney Rick R. Olivarez (right) read the post-judgement collection agreement and promissory note for Melanie McDade and her attorney Martin and Martin LLP to pay more than $217,000. Photo captured by Gloria Zuurveen
It was her misconduct that caused the termination — not the City nor the Mayor. Now, McDade and her attorneys at Martin & Martin LLP must pay over $200,000 because the City of Inglewood doesn’t play when it comes to the truth.
Olivarez continued: “In a March 5, 2025 sanctions order, the court found Ms. McDade committed perjury and destroyed critical evidence contradicting her allegations against the City and Mayor Butts. Among sweeping evidentiary sanctions, McDade is prohibited from introducing evidence relating to any of her allegations. The court imposed $217,404 in monetary sanctions against Ms. McDade and her attorneys at Martin & Martin LLP — David Martin, Janet A. Ariza, and Renee Rubin.”
He further noted: “Mr. Martin publicly vowed to appeal the decision while Ms. McDade continued to pursue her claim. But in a complete about-face, Ms. McDade and her counsel have now dismissed their appeal of the court’s order, and Martin & Martin LLP has agreed to pay the monetary sanctions in full.”
Victory is sweet. On July 8, City Attorney Olivarez announced that the City Council had accepted an initial payment of nearly $45,000 from Martin & Martin LLP, with the rest to be paid monthly over two years at 10 percent interest. For the people of Inglewood, that is meaningful relief — and the end of an unnecessary legal battle.
In the end, Martin & Martin LLP also withdrew as McDade’s counsel. This outcome shows that failure to follow court orders and playing games with the truth simply doesn’t pay — especially against the City of Inglewood and its leadership, who stood firm and prevailed.
This is The Southern Truth — about a costly, frivolous lawsuit that failed because the facts were clear and the City of Inglewood never backed down.
