A former top aide to San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus is seeking at least $15 million in damages from the county, alleging wrongful termination, retaliation and racial discrimination tied to the release of a scathing investigative report into the sheriff’s office.
Victor Aenlle, the sheriff’s former chief of staff, filed a legal claim accusing county officials of conspiring to “defame, retaliate, and remove” him by “orchestrating” the release of the Cordell report — a more than 400-page document detailing alleged corruption, misconduct and nepotism inside the sheriff’s department under Corpus’ leadership.
Aenlle is seeking $5 million for lost earnings and reputational harm, $5 million for emotional distress, and $5 million for punitive damages. He is also requesting an unspecified amount for legal fees.
In his claim, Aenlle alleges that he was targeted because of his race, writing that the actions taken against him constituted “treatment that was not imposed on similarly situated non-Latino employees.”
“White executive staff who reported directly to Sheriff Corpus were not publicly maligned, barred from county facilities, or subjected to retaliatory enforcement actions,” the claim states.
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Aenlle was removed from his role last year when the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors eliminated funding for his position following the release of the Cordell report. He is also accused of having an inappropriate relationship with Corpus, an allegation they have both denied.
Aenlle was recently rehired by Corpus as a volunteer reserve deputy to help process concealed carry weapon permit applications.
“The investigation that led to my wrongful termination was fundamentally flawed from the start — its so-called findings were the fruit of a poisoned tree,” Aenlle told this news organization in a text message.
Corpus’ legal team recently retained former Riverside County Superior Court Judge Burke E. Strunsky to conduct their own independent review. His report criticized the Cordell report for relying on anonymous sources and unrecorded interviews, saying the credibility of witnesses could not be assessed.
Corpus has also filed suit against the county seeking access to Cordell’s investigative records, including expense reports. The county has defended both the findings of the Cordell report and its decision to make the document public.
County spokesperson Michelle Durand confirmed the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors received Aenlle’s claim and will review it, but she pushed back against the allegations — especially claims of racial discrimination and assertions that the Cordell report was part of a coordinated effort to discredit Corpus’ leadership team.
“The claim is rife with mistakes and apparent disinformation,” Durand told this news organization in an email. “Victor misrepresents the stated reasons for the Cordell Report. As Judge Cordell wrote in the first paragraph, she was retained by the County Counsel’s Office to conduct an independent fact-finding investigation into complaints and concerns that current and former members of the Sheriff’s Office had about Victor Aenlle.”
Durand also rejected the racial bias allegation.
“He appears to accuse Latinx people of discriminating against him for apparently being Latino with no evidence or explanation,” she said. “In light of these and the many more obvious errors, both legal and factual, the claim should not be treated seriously.”
The claim further accuses County Executive Mike Callagy of retaliating against Aenlle by directing code enforcement and Farm Labor Task Force actions targeting his private property.
The county linked the property inspections to a broader investigation into farmworker housing conditions following the 2023 Half Moon Bay mass shooting.
“Over the course of two years, some 56 properties with farmworker housing, including Mr. Aenlle’s property, were inspected,” San Mateo County said in a press release. “Media reports have extensively detailed serious concerns about the condition of Mr. Aenlle’s property, including unsafe and unpermitted housing and contaminated water sources, resulting in the red-tagging of one of the housing units on the property.”
This latest legal dispute is among dozens of lawsuits and claims linked to the turmoil within the sheriff’s office.
Earlier this month, the board of supervisors approved procedures that would allow them to remove an elected sheriff by a four-fifths vote. Voters granted the board that power during a special election in March, in which 24.4% of the county’s 444,497 registered voters participated. Officials estimated the election cost taxpayers up to $3.8 million.
Months since the release of the Cordell report, pressure has mounted for Corpus to resign, though she has refused and vowed to fight removal efforts in court.
Aenlle said he intends to continue fighting, too.
“I am determined to ensure that no public servant is ever subjected to this kind of treatment again,” he said. “And I am committed to holding those who conspired and colluded against me fully and publicly accountable.”
