John Hueston was selected to serve as monitor by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter of the Central District of California to ensure compliance with the court's ruling in Powers v. McDonough, a class action brought on behalf of disabled homeless veterans in Los Angeles against the Department of Veterans Affairs and others.
The judge’s ruling held the VA accountable for failing to honor its obligations on the West Los Angeles VA Campus and ordered that the campus be used to provide housing and healthcare to disabled veterans as originally intended. The ruling voided four significant land-use leases on the West LA VA campus, including UCLA, Brentwood School, Safety Park and Bridgeland, and ordered the construction of both permanent and temporary housing.
“I am honored to have been selected as the monitor to ensure timely and comprehensive compliance with Judge Carter’s order, and am pleased to serve on a pro bono basis,” said Hueston. “Our veterans have made immeasurable sacrifices, and for far too long, the VA failed to provide a home and care for veterans as it pledged more than 100 years ago. I look forward to ensuring compliance with this order so that adequate housing and care is provided to veterans who desperately need it.”
As part of his role, Hueston will oversee the planning and construction of both temporary and permanent supportive housing, the construction of a Town Center, staffing the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program case worker ranks to an appropriate level, increasing VA homeless veteran outreach staff to an appropriate level, ensuring that the VA does not enter any land use agreement that does not principally benefit veterans and their families, and auditing compliance to ensure elimination of specified discriminatory practices against disabled veterans.
Hueston has a long and distinguished private and public sector career. His work as a prosecutor included sweeping and complex investigations and cases, including U.S. v. Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. During his tenure as a prosecutor, he earned national accolades for his work, including the Department of the Army’s Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, the U.S. Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service (the highest award granted by the attorney general within the Department of Justice), and three DOJ Director’s Awards for Superior Service.
A Fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Hueston was recently recognized by Chambers USA for his Outstanding Contribution to the Legal Profession. At Hueston Hennigan, he represents Fortune 500 companies and governments as lead counsel in complex civil matters, including breach of contract, real estate, and fraud cases. He has also served as independent counsel for investigations on behalf of numerous government agencies, including the County of San Bernardino, the City of Santa Monica, and the San Diego Association of Governments.
You can see the order appointing a special monitor here.
Coverage of the appointment appeared in the Daily Journal.