Atherton has been slapped with another claim for damages from former finance director John Johns.
In his latest action against the town, Mr. Johns filed a claim on Dec. 5 for $505,125 in emotional distress and lost retirement benefits, and accuses Councilman Charles Marsala of violating his privacy and engaging in a campaign to discredit him.
In his claim, Mr. Johns accuses Mr. Marsala of a “continuing, 12-month-long campaign to discredit me.”
Mr. Johns also claims that Mr. Marsala’s comments posted on The Almanac’s Town Square forum on Oct. 4 reveal information from a confidential e-mail between Mr. Johns and members of the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury who were investigating the town of Atherton’s building department in the 2006-07 fiscal year.
Mr. Marsala denied Mr. Johns’ allegations, and said he’s defending the town, not pursing the former finance director. Mr. Marsala questions all of Mr. Johns’ findings of “apparent” wrongdoing in the building department, and said he acquired Mr. Johns’ e-mails through state public records act requests.
“As far as John Johns goes, I boxed everything up and put it away until he re-filed his lawsuit and re-filed his claim (against the town),” Mr. Marsala told The Almanac. “There’s a lot of other issues in town we need to address, but if we need to defend ourselves, we need to defend ourselves.”
Besides this latest claim, Mr. Johns is also pursing a $1 million claim against Atherton for malicious prosecution, and the third iteration of a lawsuit for wrongful termination.
“I’m looking forward to getting back in the saddle and getting my old job back,” said Mr. Johns, who was fired in October 2007 by interim City Manager Wende Protzman, following a two-month suspension while a personnel investigation was conducted. He’s seeking reinstatement and back wages.
Mr. Johns, who was finance director from 2001 to 2007, maintains that he was fired in retaliation for auditing the town’s building department and uncovering problems with employee expense accounts, among other things.
In his claim against Atherton, Mr. Johns said Mr. Marsala’s statements have had the effect of “blackballing” him from municipal jobs. “I believe that my failure to be considered for positions ranging from finance director to senior accountant is a direct result of Councilman Marsala’s efforts to malign my reputation, to defame my character,” he said.
Mr. Marsala said that he feels an obligation to stand up for town employees like former building official Mike Hood, who was discredited by Mr. Johns’ audits that took place in 2006 when Mr. Marsala served as mayor. Mr. Marsala said he’s too busy with other town matters to spend time discrediting Mr. Johns, as he claims.
“Between my own personal life and my own business life, there isn’t time to focus on that,” Mr. Marsala said.
Atherton Mayor Jim Janz said he had not seen the claim and could not comment on it.
Redwood City attorney sues ‘First Amendment auditors’ after Menlo Park disputeApril 2, 2026 11:31 am
