Hansel Aguilar, the former Berkeley director of Police Accountability, sued the city of Berkeley and Mayor Adena Ishii for allegedly collaborating with the Berkeley Police Department to retaliate against him after trying to investigate police misconduct and exercise the duties and functions of his job. The lawsuit, filed May 15 with the Alameda County Superior Court, alleges Aguilar faced harassment; obstructed access to police department records; a hiring freeze to limit the authority and investigations of the Office of Police Accountability; family leave discrimination and termination without notice or cause. The lawsuit also alleges whistleblower retaliation, harassment, discrimination and wrongful termination. “My removal … comes at a time of mounting structural pressure on the independence of civilian oversight in Berkeley: an extended hiring freeze … resistance to producing records that has forced the oversight office into court to enforce a subpoena, and the resignation of e...