LA ethics panel approves fine for former CBS exec Leslie Moonves over interference with LAPD investigation

Later that night, Palka called CBS officials and alerted them to Golden-Gottlieb’s report, the complaint said.

Golden-Gottlieb, who died in 2022, has alleged that Moonves invited her to lunch, then parked on a side street, forcibly grabbed her head and slammed it into his crotch before ejaculating into her mouth.

Over the next few weeks, Palka, Moonves and one of Moonves’ subordinates discussed strategies to thwart Golden-Gottlieb’s report and worked to make sure it didn’t gain traction within the Police Department or the L.A. County district attorney’s office, according to records that came to light in late 2022 as part of a report by New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James.

James had accused Moonves and CBS of misleading investors about the scope of the sexual harassment uncovered at CBS — information that was damaging to the company’s stock.

L.A. City Ethics Commission investigators, in their own case against Moonves, accused the CBS chief of three violations of the city’s Government Ethics Ordinance. Moonves aided and abetted the disclosure and misuse of confidential city information and induced Palka to misuse his city position, the investigators said.

The $15,000 fine approved Wednesday was the maximum allowed, with each count carrying a maximum penalty of $5,000.

Ethics Commission staff worked with Moonves to agree on the proposed fine, but it still needed approval by the Ethics Commission, the volunteer panel that oversees the department.

Gloria Allred, an attorney representing Golden-Gottlieb’s children, said in a statement that city law should be changed to allow “more significant punishments in the future for ethics violations.”

The statement also demanded a formal apology from the city and criticized the Ethics Commission for not speaking to the children, Cathy Weiss and Jim Gottlieb, about the impact on their mother.

“While it is a positive sign that the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission imposed the maximum fine against Les Moonves, unfortunately, that fine is still minimal and does not serve to deter others or punish Mr. Moonves in any significant manner,” the statement said.

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