Nehrenheim demands City’s defense in personal trespassing suit
Signs posted earlier this year at Paul Hennessey’s Riviera Village restaurants asked customers to lobby Councilman Nils Nehrenheim and Mayor Bill Brand to save a dining deck outside of Rebel Republic Social House. Nehrenheim is accused of ripping down such a sign while trespassing at a Hennessey restaurant in June. Photo courtesy Nils Nehrenheim
Redondo Beach Councilman Nils Nehrenheim is demanding that City Hall defend him in a personal lawsuit brought by restauranteur Paul Hennessey.
Nehrenheim says that his 2017 vote to end a controversial dining deck program earned Hennessey’s ire, leading to a disputed ban from his restaurants and a civil lawsuit that alleges trespassing and destruction of property.
In an Aug. 26 email to the City Council and senior city staff, Nehrenheim demanded legal defense under California Government Code 995, which says that government entities shall, upon request, defend public employees or officials in civil lawsuits brought about by their duties.
“It is clear that this Action is an embellished, frivolous claim, arising from Hennessey’s opposition to my official action,” Nehrenheim wrote.
According to court documents, the incident took place on Sunday, June 10, two months after Hennessey said he banned Nehrenheim and Redondo Mayor Bill Brand from his establishments. Between 10 and 11 p.m., Nehrenheim and an unidentified woman went to Hennessey’s Tavern, in Riviera Village. The two ordered and received drinks, but after an employee recognized the name on Nehrenheim’s credit card, a manager asked the pair to leave.
“Nehrenheim refused to leave, continued to occupy the premises, began to raise his voice and berate the employees of Hennessey’s Tavern in front of customers and guests, and in the process began a five minute performance of kissing his female companion while refusing to leave the premises,” the lawsuit alleged.
The complaint then stated that Nehrenheim tore down Hennessey-owned signs asking customers who support a dining deck project at Hennessey-owned Rebel Republic Social House to call Nehrenheim and Mayor Bill Brand.
Nehrenheim declined to comment on many of the specifics of Hennessey’s lawsuit, preferring to instead file a response with the court, though he contends Hennessey did not directly tell him that he was “banned” from his restaurants.
“This is a retaliatory lawsuit against me. I would not be in this position if I had not voted the way I did, and I would not be in this position if I was not a City Council member,” Nehrenheim said. “I’m asking the city to put up a defense of me and my actions as a Council member.”
Last November the City Council voted 4-0, with one abstention, in favor of ending the city’s dining deck pilot program and to remove the deck from Rebel Republic. The dining deck was well-received by customers but drew complaints from neighboring restaurateurs who believed the pilot site selection process was unfair. The two pilot locations proposed by city staff included spaces in front of Redondo Beach Brewing Company, and Hennessey’s former Mickey Finnz; only Hennessey applied for the program. The deck was later torn down, in accordance with a city order.
Hennessey said that he banned Nehrenheim and Brand from his properties in April, at a fundraiser for local non-profit Keep the Esplanade Beautiful.
“I told him a month or two ago to please not come into any of my places, seeing as he’s the spearhead that fought to close the dining deck,” Hennessey said in June. His customers, he said, were in “full support” of the dining deck.
“I don’t want him to be accosted for the way he’s voting,” Hennessey said.
Nehrenheim’s letter states that he believes the city has a duty to defend him, and that legal consultants have backed that belief.
“If he’s truly serious about what he’s saying in that letter, then it creates a very dangerous precedent for the city to indemnify a gentleman who is out on a Sunday night, off hours, on a date, imbibing alcohol, at a place where he knew he shouldn’t be,” said Hennessey attorney Carmen Trutanich.
Under Gov. Code 995, a public entity may refuse defense only for specific reasons, including if the lawsuit is due to an act outside the scope of the employee’s duties.
Nehrenheim’s letter requests a formal response, in writing, from the city by Sept. 5, one day after the Council’s next official meeting.
City Attorney Michael Webb declined to comment on the lawsuit, though he confirmed that the matter will be discussed in the Council’s closed session. ER