An appellate judicial assistant on Wednesday sued the state of California and embattled Second District Court of Appeal Justice Jeffrey Johnson for what she described as five years of "unwelcome, inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature" by Johnson.

In a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Trisha Velez said Johnson between 2013 and 2018 subjected her to questions about her sexual history and marriage and allegedly told her, "If I was married to you, I would never leave your bed. I like you, Trish."

Velez is one of more than a dozen attorneys, court employees and security officers who told Commission on Judicial Performance investigators that Johnson acted inappropriately to them in incidents going back to 2009. Velez is an assistant to Justice Victoria Chaney, who alleged that Johnson groped her and made unwelcome suggestive comments to her on numerous occasions.