Massachusetts judge tosses most of lawsuit tied to Boston City Hall love triangle scandal

A federal judge dismissed most of the lawsuit an ex-city employee who was fired amid a City Hall love triangle scandal filed against the city, mayor and a Boston cop, but allowed her case to proceed on a retaliatory firing claim.

U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs filed an order Wednesday to dismiss eight of 10 claims that constitute a lawsuit ex-city employee Marwa Khudaynazar filed last fall.

The suit alleges, in part, that Khudaynazar was fired to protect a high-ranking Wu administration official, Segun Idowu, whom she had accused of propositioning her, and spare the mayor a scandal during an election year.

Burroughs granted the city’s motion to dismiss four of six claims made by Khudaynazar, Boston Police Officer Luke Payne’s motion to dismiss a retaliatory arrest claim made against him, and Mayor Michelle Wu’s motion to dismiss all three claims made directly against her in the lawsuit.

The judge allowed the case to proceed on a single claim made by Khudaynazar, that her termination constituted a retaliatory discharge by the city, based on public statements she made to the police on the night of her arrest.

The lawsuit’s parties were ordered by the judge to “show cause” in writing why she shouldn’t dismiss the 10th claim, which was made against the city, “as moot,” given that the parties informed the court in December that the city had “fully complied” with Khudaynazar’s public records request.

Still, Burroughs stated while denying the city’s motion to dismiss Khudaynazar’s First Amendment retaliation claim that she found the plaintiff’s argument on that particular, and likely only remaining, allegation to be tenuous.

“Khudaynazar alleges that the city suspended her without pay and then fired her in retaliation for making reports to the police and making public statements on matters of public concern, including her statements that she works for the city and went on a date with Idowu,” Burroughs wrote.

“Here, although the issue is close, Khudaynazar’s statements to the police about a potentially inappropriate workplace relationship she had with a high-ranking city official plausibly amounts to protected citizen speech on a matter of public concern,” the judge added, saying that the plaintiff had “plausibly, albeit thinly,” demonstrated her case.

Burroughs wrote that Khudaynazar’s statements to police about Idowu, according to her complaint, were “designed to explain to the police the reason for her fight with her boyfriend.”

“The city argues that this claim should be dismissed because Khudaynazar’s alleged statements were not statements of public concern and that, in any case, the city’s interest in protecting the credibility of OPAT outweighs Khudaynazar’s alleged interest in publicizing the ‘off-duty interpersonal relationships of employees,” the judge wrote.

Khudaynazar, the ex-chief of staff for the Office of Police Accountability and Transparency, and her then-boyfriend Chulan Huang were fired by the city after they were arrested following a domestic dispute at Huang’s apartment last May.

In her lawsuit, Khudaynazar, 27, claims that Idowu, the city’s chief of economic opportunity and inclusion and the boss of her then-boyfriend Huang, 26, propositioned her, which sparked the alleged domestic dispute between her and Huang that led to both of their arrests and dismissals days later by the city.

Idowu, 37, plans to resign on Feb. 27. He has denied any wrongdoing through his attorney Jeffrey Robbins, while pointing to a city-commissioned investigation that found he did not violate any city workforce policies.

Wu has stated Khudaynazar and Huang, the ex-neighborhood business manager for the city’s office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion, were fired for their “invoking of official status” as city employees to try to avoid being arrested during a police response.

Burroughs dismissed a retaliatory arrest claim made against Payne, the Boston police officer named in the lawsuit. The judge found that Khudaynazar had failed to demonstrate that Payne “lacked probable cause to arrest her for assaulting” his fellow responding officer, Cris Santana.

Khudaynazar had alleged that she was arrested in retaliation for calling Payne “a (expletive).”

Other claims dismissed by the judge included an allegation from Khudaynazar that she was terminated without due process, and that the mayor interfered with her relationship with Emerge Massachusetts, a political leadership program “for Democratic women who want to run for office,” thus preventing her from graduating with one class remaining after the scandal broke.

Mayor Wu’s office, the Boston Police Department, and an attorney for Khudaynazar did not respond to the Herald’s requests for comment.

Burroughs’ decision to dismiss most of the federal lawsuit comes after Idowu announced this month that he would be resigning from the Wu administration on Feb. 27 to spend more time with his grandmother, who has since died.

In addition, a Boston Municipal Court judge dismissed last May’s domestic violence charge against Huang last week, because the reported victim, Khudaynazar, did not appear in court to testify, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said.

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“There was never any doubt that the case would be dismissed because I did nothing wrong,” Huang said in a statement to the Herald. “The outcome simply reaffirmed the truth. As a kid that grew up in Boston, it was truly an honor to have had an opportunity to serve as a bridge between City Hall and the communities I care deeply about.

“Losing my role was devastating, not due to any lack of integrity on my part, but because I was made to absorb the consequences of someone else’s misconduct,” Huang added. “This situation stemmed from a clear abuse of power by an individual who held not only a leadership role within my office, but a leadership position within the City of Boston itself.”

Idowu declined to comment on the judge’s order or Huang’s remarks in a brief statement through his attorney, Robbins, who said, “There doesn’t seem much point in commenting yet further on this.”

The DA’s office said the case against Khudaynazar, who was charged with assault and battery on a police officer and assault and battery on a household member, is still pending.

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