Idaho judge orders AG Labrador to be deposed in whistleblower lawsuit

An Idaho judge has ordered Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador to be deposed in a whistleblower lawsuit brought by a former AG office attorney.

Idaho 4th District Judge Jonathan Medema on April 17 partially rejected the Office of the Attorney General’s motion for a protective order that would’ve prevented Labrador from answering questions by former Deputy Attorney General Daphne Huang’s attorneys in her lawsuit.

In September 2023, Huang, who previously represented the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, sued Labrador’s office after she was fired, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. She alleged the Idaho attorney general’s office retaliated against her after she raised ethical concerns related to her clients’ legal representation. 

The judge limited Labrador’s in-person deposition to last up to two hours. 

“I have evidence in the deposition testimony … that Attorney General Labrador was the person in the office who made the decision to terminate Ms. Huang’s employment. What he knew and why he chose to make that (decision) … is important information for the plaintiff’s claims,” Medema said in an April 14 court hearing. 

The judge, in a separate ruling, also sanctioned the Idaho Attorney General’s Office for Labrador’s failure to appear for his previously scheduled deposition. Hours after the deposition was set to occur, the Attorney General’s Office filed a motion for a protective order that sought to stop Labrador from being deposed. 

The judge required the office to pay expenses, including attorney fees, related to Labrador’s deposition. He also required the Attorney General’s Office to pay plaintiff’s expenses, including attorney fees, associated with their motion for sanctions.

“If Defendant wanted to file a motion seeking a protective order, it was incumbent upon Defendant to at least file that motion before February 14, at 9 a.m.,” when Labrador’s deposition was originally scheduled, Medema wrote in his decision released April 17.

The Idaho Office of the Attorney General could not be immediately reached for comment.

In a statement, Guy Hallam, an attorney for Huang, said, “No one is above the law, including the Idaho Attorney General.”

“Ms. Huang applauds the Court’s decision to allow Mr. Labrador’s deposition to move forward and appreciates the Court’s grant of sanctions against the Office of Attorney General after Mr. Labrador failed to show up for his previously scheduled deposition,” Hallam wrote. “No one is above the law, including the Idaho Attorney General.”