By Jorge Casuso

December 15, 2025 -- Nearly six years after the City of Santa Monica began settling sexual abuse cases that so far have cost $230 million, a judge has ordered test trials for some of the pending cases.

The 14 "bellwether" cases were set by Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl in October after the parties failed to reach settlements in the current round of 180 cases the City Council will take up once again on Tuesday.

As with the previous cases, the plaintiffs claim they were sexually abused by former City employee Eric Uller when they were children and teens between the late 1980s and early 2000s.

Since settling four rounds of cases filed by 229 plaintiffs between March 2020 and April 2023, the City has been taking a more aggressive approach after finding evidence of fraudulent cases being filed, said Councilmember Lana Negrete.

"It is not a new approach," said Negrete, who served as mayor this year. "The prior Council wanted to fight these claims. We were already persuing fraudulent cases.

"Now, we have the information that is strong and a position to go forward," Negrete said, noting that Munger, Tolles & Olson, an elite international law firm, has been hired to represent the City.

Negrete credits new City Manager Oliver Chi -- who authored a resolution declaring the City is experiencing" fiscal distress" due in large part to the abuse settlements -- for taking strong action.

The bellwether cases, which will go to trial in April 2027, were chosen by the lawyers for each side and will provide an indication of the merits of the cases, said Catherine Lerer, partner at McGee Lerer Ogrin, who represents half of the remaining 180 plaintiffs.

"In earlier rounds, plaintiffs were required to answer a City-prepared fact sheet, providing details about their claim, and participate in an interview with the City’s attorneys," Lerer said. "Plaintiffs had to sign the fact sheet under penalty of perjury.

"This round goes further. Plaintiffs must not only complete a fact sheet under penalty of perjury, they must also provide sworn testimony in a formal deposition, where they are questioned under oath.”

These test cases, she said, "often settle before trial and have no binding effect on any of the other cases, but can influence settlement negotiations."

The City has been under increasing pressure from taxpayers to halt the settlements that so far have paid a total of $229,825,000 to 229 plaintiffs, with the amounts varying per case.

To pay the settlements, the City has been rapidly depleting cash reserves that have dwindled to $150 million, from as much as $400 million; used Housing Trust Funds that subsidize affordable housing and even considered selling City properties.

The first lawsuits against the City were filed in March 2019, less than five months after Uller, a volunteer for the Police Activities League (PAL) was arrested by LA County Sheriffs for lewd acts with a minor.

On November 15, 2018, days after pleading not guilty and bailing out of custody, Uller was found dead of an apparent suicide on the morning of his next scheduled court appearance.

The City hired a consulting firm to prevent sex abuse in City youth programs and launched an independent investigation of allegations that City officials had been told of Uller's behavior and did nothing to address it. The results of the investigation were never released.

The first settlements totaling $42.6 million were reached with 24 plaintiffs in March 2020. All but one -- a young girl allegedly abused by a probationer performing community service at PAL -- involved Uller ("Santa Monica to Pay $42.6 Million to Alleged Victims of Sexual Abuse," March 10, 2020).

After the original settlements, an additional 20 plaintiffs sued the City and PAL and were paid a total of $9,825,000, according to the financial statements.

In December 2021, the City paid another $54.9 million to an additional 61 claimants ("Council Votes to Pay Alleged Child Molestation Victims Another $54.9 Million," August 25, 2021).

Finally, in April 2023, the Council voted 5 to 0 to pay $122.5 million to settle the remaining lawsuits filed by 124 plaintiffs ("Council Votes to Settle Remaining Sexual Abuse Cases for $122.5 Million," April 25, 2023).

After the settlements were approved by the Council, then Mayor Gleam Davis proclaimed, "We are glad to put this behind us. This was a sad chapter in our City's history."

One month after Davis' declaration, Lerer noted that plaintiffs who claim they were sexually abused as children could continue filing cases for years.

"It's not over," Lerer said. "It's definitely not over."

Under a California law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019, sexual abuse victims who were under 18 when the crime was committed can initiate legal action until they turn 40 or within five years of becoming aware of trauma caused by the alleged abuse.

Santa Monica is not the only California jurisdiction facing the fallout from AB 218.

Since the law went into effect six years ago, "school districts and other public entities have spent billions defending against the rush of lawsuits the law made possible," according to an investigation published by Politico in September.

"Faced with the worsening fallout, legislators are under pressure to rein in AB 218 and stem the bleeding," Politico wrote. "How to do so, however, has proven difficult."