Employment Attorney in Santa Clarita, CA

Business Facilities: Please describe the business and quality of life landscape in California’s Santa Clarita Valley.

Ondré Seltzer: Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) offers southern California market access without big-city friction. Located just north of Los Angeles, SCV offers strong freeway connectivity and a deep labor pool, including many nearby colleges and universities. Employers also benefit from a community where talent wants to live, providing excellent schools, outdoor recreation, safe neighborhoods, quality healthcare, and, generally, more attainable housing than in many Los Angeles submarkets. It’s a place where companies can grow while offering employees an exceptional quality of life.

BF: What are the region’s leading industries??

Seltzer: SCV’s economy is anchored by advanced manufacturing—especially aerospace and defense, medical devices/bioscience, and consumer products—alongside corporate/professional services and a media, entertainment, and tourism ecosystem. Representative headquarters and major operations include DrinkPAK, Sunkist, Logix Federal Credit Union, Advanced Bionics, Boston Scientific Neuromodulation, ITT Aerospace Controls, Woodward HRT, and IQVIA’s Western Coast HQ.

We are targeting continued growth in these clusters because they deliver quality jobs and long-term resiliency.

BF: What are long-standing advantages for business in the Santa Clarita Valley?

Seltzer: Consistency and competitiveness. Santa Clarita has been recognized as one of Los Angeles County’s most business-friendly communities, supported by a local tax structure that helps keep operating costs predictable, including no local gross receipts tax and no utility user tax. Pair that with modern infrastructure and building availability, and employers gain a clear operational advantage when planning expansions or new locations.

BF: What are recent developments that businesses should know about when it comes to the business climate?

Seltzer: Several developments signal the Valley’s next growth phase. The SCV has about 18 million square feet in its commercial and industrial development pipeline, with 5.8 million square feet approved and 11.6 million awaiting approval as of September . This pipeline offers employers opportunities to grow, modernize facilities, or establish a presence in Los Angeles County for the first time.

Recent approvals, such as FivePoint’s master-planned Entrada South and Valencia Commerce Center (3.4 million square feet), mark significant progress in expanding housing options and the commercial/industrial pipeline. The Santa Clarita Commerce Center recently delivered four new industrial buildings totaling 430,407 square feet, which are now available.

Looking ahead, the proposed Honor Ranch project along the I-5 corridor aims to add approximately 1.5 million square feet of non-residential space, including a large industrial business park, life sciences offices, R&D facilities, and retail space. Projects like Princessa Crossroads, planning for 1.5 million square feet of business and commercial space, further exemplify how new mixed-use centers can boost the economy and create quality jobs closer to home.

BF: What is a recent company relocation or expansion you’d like to tell us about?

Seltzer: DrinkPAK is a standout example of SCV’s advanced manufacturing momentum. The company recently leased its seventh SCV facility, an additional 172,843-square-foot production building, bringing its local footprint to more than 1.1 million square feet across seven sites. DrinkPAK’s continued expansion reflects both strong market demand and SCV’s ability to support growth with modern industrial space and a supportive business environment.

BF: What does the future hold for the state’s business climate? How is the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp. playing a role in this future?

Seltzer: California’s future will reward regions that pair innovation with execution, delivering sites, infrastructure, and talent solutions that help companies compete. SCVEDC’s role is practical and company-facing: we take an integrated approach to attracting, retaining, and expanding businesses, working closely with partners to provide services that help employers locate, hire, and grow.

By supporting expansions like DrinkPAK and collaborating with workforce partners to address evolving employer needs, we help businesses translate California’s advantages into on-the-ground success in SCV.

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A lawsuit claiming that a man was beaten outside a Santa Clarita bar by off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, who then conspired with a high-ranking sheriff’s official to cover up the incident, was dismissed by a federal judge this week.

In the lawsuit, Valencia resident Parker Seitz alleged that off-duty deputies Randy Austin and Nicholas Hernandez, along with a third man attacked him outside a bar called the Break Room in late November 2024. Seitz said the men had assaulted him, and that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and deputies had violated his civil rights, inflicted emotional stress, defamed him and conspired to keep the matter quiet.

The incident, the complaint alleged, left Seitz with a fractured jaw, punctured lung and a bruised collarbone.

But attorneys for the county argued in court filings that it was Seitz who was actually the aggressor.

Seitz’s attorneys said they were disappointed in the ruling and “will continue to seek justice.”

“Mr. Seitz and his family, as we have previously stated, are longtime supporters of law enforcement, and remain so, but they expect accountability for the assault and the events that followed,” said attorney Josh Stambaugh.

Attorneys representing the county and the deputies did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

In the complaint filed in California’s Central District federal court on Aug. 25, Seitz had also alleged that deputies and a captain in the sheriff’s North Patrol Division tried to dissuade and prevent him and his father from reporting the incident.

But U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner disagreed in a ruling Wednesday, finding Seitz and his attorneys had not shown how his 1st Amendment rights had been violated. Klausner also ruled that some of the actions that Seitz’s attorneys argued were meant to intimidate him instead appeared to be “routine law enforcement interactions.”

Klausner dismissed all of the remaining allegations against the county, the deputies and the bar.

The ruling prevents Seitz from filing another federal claim alleging violations of his civil rights, but his attorneys said they were considering an appeal, and also intend to file another claim in county court.

The incident occurred Nov. 28 after Seitz and two friends visited the Santa Clarita bar. In the complaint, Seitz alleged that Austin, Hernandez and a third man began to bother and harass him outside after the bar closed, “including by repeatedly reaching for the sunglasses resting on” his head.

Hernandez allegedly knocked the glasses off Seitz’s head, and a fight broke out. The altercation briefly stopped, but the complaint alleges the fighting resumed after Austin “suddenly and without justification” punched and knocked Seitz down.

But in a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed, attorneys for the county argued it was Seitz who initiated the fight and that surveillance video of the fracas outside the bar showed he had thrown the first punch.

“The evidence confirms he [Seitz] was the aggressor,” the court filing reads.

The filing also alleges that video shows Seitz crossed the street after the altercation had initially been quelled, and ran to confront Hernandez and Austin a second time.

Seitz’s attorneys, however, argued the video supported their version of events.

“This video, which was submitted to the federal court, shows clearly that our client was brutally beaten,” Stambaugh said in a statement. “We look forward to presenting our evidence to a jury.”

Seitz also alleged in his complaint that sheriff’s officials tried to keep him from reporting the incident, pointing to a call made by then-Capt. Justin Diez the day after the fight to Seitz’s father.

The complaint alleged Diez called Ryan Seitz, a personal friend of his, to tell him about the fight. Diez — now a commander in the Sheriff’s Department — allegedly suggested that the department was understaffed and that he would “make sure [the] criminal investigation would go away.”

Parker Seitz alleged the call was made to dissuade him and his father from reporting the incident, and that his father was “fearful that his son was going to be prosecuted and that he was going to be sued.”

But in his ruling Wednesday, Klausner ruled Seitz and his attorneys had not presented “factual allegations as to why this phone call would affect Plaintiff.”

Even if the call had been intimidating, the judge wrote in his ruling, he was not convinced that such a call “would have chilled a person of ordinary firmness from exercising their First Amendment rights.”

An internal Sheriff’s Department investigation into the incident is ongoing, a spokesperson said Friday.

“The Department expects all personnel to conduct themselves with professionalism and respect, both on and off duty,” according to a statement provided by the department. “The Department has established policies and procedures that clearly outline the standards of conduct required of all employees. These guidelines are in place to ensure accountability, maintain public trust, and uphold the integrity of the Department.”

Austin and Hernandez have been relieved of duty pending the outcome of the investigation, the spokesperson said.

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. -- A Santa Clarita, California, couple is speaking out after their roommate allegedly poisoned them, leading to a standoff with deputies on Tuesday. They say it comes after being tormented by the man for months.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office - Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station, deputies responded to a home on Tuesday after receiving reports of alleged poisoning.

A couple called sheriff's deputies after reviewing surveillance video and discovering that a roommate was spraying their food with what appeared to be Raid bug spray. They made the discovery after numerous illnesses and emergency room visits with chest and stomach pain.

Billy Sonhopper and her husband, David, say 42-year-old Timothy Bradbury has been tormenting them for months, but it wasn't until they saw the surveillance video that they realized their lives were in danger.

The video shows the suspect, later identified as Bradbury, wearing a gas mask and spraying what appears to be a blue can of Raid on groceries and produce in their shared kitchen, including inside the pantry.

David Sonhopper said at his latest ER visit, he was told he has liver damage, and medical professionals said, based on his blood work, they thought it could be poisoning.

That's what led the couple to check the cameras the landlord has installed in the home.

"On the video we found that, besides all the other things that he's done in the year that we've lived here, that he was spraying something -- we weren't sure if it was rat poison, wasp spray," David Sonhopper said.

"He was spraying stuff all over our groceries -- our fruit, our vegetables, our coffee pot that we use every morning, and our whole pantry full of our chips and cereal, all of our canned goods and spices. Everything. He sprayed it all over everything," Billy Sonhopper said.

The couple said that, on top of the recent incident, Bradbury has also thrown away their food and cut up their clothes.

"He set our house on fire. He's poisoned our stuff. He's destroyed our property. I've had to get a new car because he destroyed my old one," David Sonhopper said.

They noted that they had called law enforcement in the past, but never had much evidence until they discovered the new surveillance video.

When deputies responded to the home on Tuesday, they attempted to make contact with Bradbury, but he retreated inside and refused to come out, deputies said.

Deputies learned that Bradbury suffers from a mental health disability and called a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Mental Evaluation Team to the scene.

After two hours of negotiations, Bradbury exited the home voluntarily and was detained, the sheriff's department said. He was placed under arrest for willful poisoning of food, drink, medicine or water with the intent to cause injury.

Video from the scene shows gloved deputies going in and out of the home. At one point, an investigator is seen removing a blue can of Raid that looks just like the one in the surveillance video.

The couple says the owner of the home has been trying to evict Bradbury. Given the shocking video, they say they're terrified of what could happen next.

"It's been hell living with him the past year. It's been horrible," David Sonhopper said after Bradbury's arrest. "With her health issues, we were extremely concerned. And we're just tired. We've been living with so much stress."

"We don't want to be in fear anymore. We're tired of it. We just want to be safe." Billy Sonhopper said.

The couple added that they hope the suspect gets the mental health support he needs.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Footage captured a bizarre incident that unfolded in California Wednesday morning when an armed suspect surrendered to SWAT teams while wearing everything but pants.

The incident occurred in a Santa Clarita neighborhood after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) received reports of a man firing a gun in a school zone before barricading himself inside a home. The suspect was experiencing a mental health crisis, Fox 11 Los Angeles reported.

During the response, several nearby schools were temporarily placed on a soft lockdown, the Saugus Union School District told Fox News Digital Thursday. No injuries were reported, and students remained safe throughout the incident.

"Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) personnel are responding to assist Santa Clarita Station with a barricaded armed suspect," the LASD said in a community alert, referring to its specialized tactical units.

"The suspect was arrested for illegally discharging a firearm within a school zone," LASD added in a statement to Fox News Digital Thursday.

Upon arrival, authorities, including deputies, SWAT personnel and a crisis negotiation team, set up a perimeter and attempted to "make contact with the suspect to bring this to a peaceful conclusion," police said.

Video captured by SkyFOX showed SWAT teams evacuating residents from the home as firefighters were placed on standby.

Images also showed a gun left in the front yard, suggesting it may have been set aside after the suspect initially opened fire.

Authorities said the suspect barricaded himself inside a home for roughly two hours before emerging.

"After approximately two hours, the suspect exited the residence and surrendered to the arrest team without further incident," they said.

Footage showed the suspect walking out of the property wearing a hat, shirt and socks but no pants. As the half-naked man approached authorities, a pair of red bottoms appeared to trail from one ankle.

After he was arrested, the SWAT team continued searching the home, and the lockdown was lifted.

The school district confirmed that the sheriff requested Foster Elementary, located several blocks away, be placed on a soft lockdown. Several other schools in the community also voluntarily went into lockdown out of an abundance of caution, citing "an incident on a nearby street involving gun fire."

This year’s book choice is “The Music Shop” by Rachel Joyce, with some wonderful adult programs that are centered around the novel.

March Events will include:

The Music Shop: a Literary Listening Experience

Looking to get classy? The MAIN at 24266 Main St., Santa Clarita, CA 91321 on March 6, from 7–8:30 p.m. will host a musical revue featuring a quartet from the Santa Clarita Symphony Orchestra. The Quartet will perform song selections mentioned in this year’s One Story One City selection and there will be readings in between songs.

Paper Notes

Have you ever wanted to try paper quilling? It is an artform that involves rolling, shaping and gluing thin strips of paper to create intricate, 3D decorative designs. Join Sunday, March 8, from 2:30–3:30 p.m. at the Valencia Branch and create your own musical inspired note! Materials will be provided while supplies last.

B-Side Shrinky Dinks

Remember Shrinky Dinks? Design your own music-inspired Shrinky Dink creations, whether it’s ear rings, key chains, magnets or charms. Stop by any of three three Santa Clarita Library locations to participate in the craft. The Valencia Branch will have a workshop on Tuesday, March 10, the Old Town Newhall Branch on Wednesday, March 11 and the Canyon Country Jo Anne Darcy Branch on Thursday, March 12, all from 6–7 p.m.

Mixed Tape Platter

Put a unique spin on it. Decorate a 7″ vinyl “platter” and sleeve to suit a unique music vibe. Materials provided while supplies last. Stop by any of the three Santa Clarita Library locations beginning Tuesday, March 17 at Valencia Library, Wednesday, March 18 at the Old Town Newhall Branch and Canyon Country Jo Anne Darcy Branch, Thursday, March 19 all from 6-7 p.m.

Licorice Pizza Book Ends

Spin old vinyl into something new—DIY music-inspired bookends made from LPs (“Licorice Pizza”). Materials provided while supplies last. Stop by any of the three Santa Clarita Library locations beginning Tuesday, March 24 at Valencia Library, Wednesday, March 25 at the Old Town Newhall Branch and Canyon Country Jo Anne Darcy Branch, Thursday, March 26 all from 6-7 p.m.

Santa Clarita Libraries are located at:

Valencia Library

23743 Valencia Blvd., Santa Clarita, CA 91355

Old Town Newhall Library

24500 Main St., Santa Clarita, CA 91321

Canyon Country Jo Anne Darcy Library

18601 Soledad Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91351.