Melvin Dunlap says he doesn’t know how he became a whistleblower in the nation’s largest sexual harassment lawsuit.
He grew up in Missouri, thousands of miles from LA County’s juvenile halls — the subject of a flood of lawsuits from people who say they were sexually abused while incarcerated as children.
Dunlap says he’s never been to juvie, and he’s never been bullied.
Yet he is part of LA County’s $4-billion sexual assault settlement, identified in court as JOHN DOE MD. His lawsuit says he was “harassed, sexually assaulted and abused” by staff at the Boyle Heights Detention Center in Los Angeles when he was 15.
“I can put my hand on the Bible and say ‘I have never been sexually assaulted,'” said Dunlap, who sent text messages and emails indicating he wanted to report the matter to the Court of Justice for investigation last July.
Dunlap’s lawsuit was filed on Oct. 15, 2024, by Downtown LA Law Group. The company, also known as DTLA, is under investigation by the district attorney, the State Bar, and the state after nine clients told The Times last year that they were paid to file sexual harassment claims, some of which were false. DTLA has requested that at least three cases be dismissed.
The company has denied any wrongdoing and maintained that its lawyers “act with unwavering integrity, putting the welfare of clients first.” The firm said through a DTLA spokesman that it dismisses many of the cases filed in its office and could not discuss certain clients due to “attorney-client privilege issues.”
“Having said that, no one at the company to our knowledge has ever forced its customers or anyone else to sign anything,” DTLA said in a statement.
The Times confirmed that Dunlap has a lawsuit filed by DTLA for records detailing the firm’s clients in the LA County area. Like most sexual assault cases, all DTLA cases are filed using only the plaintiff’s initials.
Dunlap, a 30-year-old fashion designer, says she wanted to report the company, but didn’t know how. On July 28, 2025, Dunlap sent an email to a law firm he found online, saying he wanted representation against DTLA and to help file a State Bar complaint about “an attempt to force me into a class-action settlement without consent.”
“I was told that I needed to sign the papers to settle the case related to the children’s claim. I made it clear many times that I did not remember the case, I did not authorize representation, and I firmly said: ‘I do not want to be a part of this – remove me from the case,'” he wrote in an email.
“Despite this, I was told I couldn’t go because ‘it’s more complicated than that.'”
Dunlap said he did not continue to try to file a lawsuit against DTLA.
Melvin Dunlap, a 30-year-old fashion designer, says his name was used to file a false sexual harassment claim in LA County.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
Dunlap has brought several lawsuits to DTLA over the past five years. Court records show the company represented him in 2021 after he slipped on a hotel mop while visiting his uncle. He got about $1,700 for that one, he says. He called the company again after moving to LA last year after a driver ran over his foot.
In July 2025, he says, the company called him and asked him to come to its downtown office on Broadway to discuss his case. He thought there was progress in suing the driver for his foot injury.
Instead, he was ushered into a glass office where a thin man in a suit called Alex asked him to sign three packets of papers. No one explained what they were, he said.
“I’m from the hood – you don’t just sign anything. So, I start reading the papers and it’s about one of the California youths … the case. And I’m like, I’m not even from California,” Dunlap said. “I’m from St. Louis. I’ve never been to juvie a day in my life.”
But, he said, the man kept insisting that he had it.
“I’m like, ‘You made a mistake. I called you about a little foot case,'” Dunlap said. “He took it away. He was like ‘Nah, nah, nah okay, just sign this.’
After the county agreed to a $4 billion settlement in April 2025, everyone who sued had to sign a plea agreement, along with a fact sheet, detailing childhood abuse, to qualify for the payout. Each case is eligible for up to $3 million, with lawyers contributing between 33% and 45% of the fees.
Dunlap said one document he was asked to sign appeared to be a questionnaire about abuse and the other was a settlement agreement.
The district said it could not comment on whether DTLA sent any other Dunlap documents, such as an affidavit, after the July 25 interview because of “the letter of protection and the confidentiality provisions of the settlement agreement.”
Dunlap’s account raises questions about how DTLA, a high-volume personal injury firm known for representing injured drivers, received so many sexual assault plaintiffs — and whether others may be unwitting participants.
The Times found 10 people who were represented by DTLA in a sexual assault settlement, like Dunlap, who had previously used the firm to sue a victim.
Before any money is released, former Supreme Court Justice Daniel Buckley examines the company’s cases and interviews people whose accounts raise red flags. The LA County district attorney’s office also requested a six-month delay in making the payments and recently sent letters to law firms detailing hundreds of plaintiffs it believes need to be reviewed, according to a district attorney spokeswoman.
Dunlap said he refused to sign the papers and tried to leave. But he said the man forced Dunlap to see “the boss” and left him in the glass room for about five minutes while he went upstairs.
Dunlap said he was not interested in meeting with the manager.
“Right now, it’s like a million thoughts running through my head,” Dunlap recounted. “Hey, are you going to go arrest the police? Am I going to jail? I have to get the hell out of this office.”
The man returned and ushered Dunlap into the elevator to the office upstairs. Dunlap said, pressing the down button as the man went to go up. The elevator hit the floor and Dunlap said he quickly got out.
The Downtown LA Law Group is currently under investigation by the State Bar and District Attorney. The company said it was not aware of anyone in the company forcing customers to sign anything.
(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)
Andrew Morrow, a senior DTLA attorney who handles sexual harassment cases, later sent Dunlap a message with a photo of what appears to be a final agreement with the company dated Sept. 29, 2024, with Dunlap’s signature and name printed underneath, according to screenshots of the text messages reviewed by The Times.
Dunlap said he does not know the signature on the document and has never signed a sexual assault complaint. The company said in a statement that it uses “electronic signature verification procedures.”
“What’s wrong with you,” Dunlap texted Morrow after the meeting. “I couldn’t even really apologize as I was under pressure to sign the amount of money that I refused to sign in over.”
“I told myself that it’s not over and I want to go this way,” he continued.
Morrow said he would dismiss the case, but warned Dunlap that “you’re giving away a lot of money to bad people who you said hurt you.”
The lawsuit had not been dismissed as of March 23, leaving Dunlap part of the $4-billion settlement.
Dunlap says he doesn’t care about the money and believes it should go to the real victims. All he wants is for the case to go away.
“So how am I going to get my name out?”
