Opinion No. (2008)

EDMUND G. BROWN JR. Attorney General SUSAN DUNCAN LEE Supervising Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE ROBERT OWEN, CITY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, CITY OF RIALTO, has requested an opinion on the following question: Is Government Code section 1090 a barrier to compromise settlement by a city of a suit for damages that was brought by a city council member against the city and its employees before his election to the council, for alleged wrongful conduct committed against him as a private citizen by city employees? *Page 2 CONCLUSION Although the issue is not entirely free from doubt, under the current state of the law, we conclude that a court could invalidate as contrary to state law a city's compromise settlement of a suit for damages that was brought by a city council member, before his election to the council, against the city and its employees for alleged wrongful conduct committed against him as a private citizen, because the plaintiff council member's financial interest in the settlement would be prohibited by Government Code section 1090 . ANALYSIS In 2002, a city resident filed a complaint for money damages in a federal district court, alleging that the City of Rialto, certain…