Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyer Blog

The ex-girlfriend of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy has filed a federal lawsuit against the agency, on behalf of herself and two young daughters, alleging that the agency didn't take her complaints of domestic abuse seriously because of her boyfriend's job.

Our Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyers know that nobody is above the law, and an agency that offers special treatment to its own in criminal cases not only breaks its own code of ethics, but also the law.

The complainant asserts that the agency systematically denies justice to victims of domestic violence when the accused is someone who works as a law enforcement officer within the agency.

The complainant says that the deputy, who fathered her two daughters, now ages 11 and 6, began abusing her soon after the birth of their first child, back in 2003. She asserts that she left him for a time, but he begged for her to come back - a cycle with which domestic violence victims are well familiar.

Soon after she moved back in, the deputy reportedly resumed his behavior of drinking heavily, screaming at her and then hitting her. These actions often took place in front of the couple's young children. As such, the older child began to suffer injuries mental and emotional issues, which caused her grades to suffer significantly.

The complainant says that she called the sheriff's department, which had jurisdiction where they lived, to her home on numerous occasions to report the abuse. However, at no point was the accused ever arrested or even scolded by his supervisors. This was despite the fact that she frequently displayed bruises and other injuries to responding officers.

In one instance, she claims that the boyfriend's fellow deputies even assisted him in having her removed from their home, which was jointly-owned, after she called to report him for battering her.

In one specific incident in April 2012, she said her boyfriend began to scream at her for leaving a sandwich in the toaster oven while she was readying herself and the girls for church. In a rage, her boyfriend dumped an entire pot of coffee in the trash, grabbed and twisted her wrist and threw the sandwich at her. When she said she would call the police, her aggressor dared her, saying she would be the one arrested, not him.

She subsequently called her boyfriend's supervisor, a lieutenant, begging him to have someone come help. An officer arrived and, as the boyfriend had threatened, said she could be arrested for battery because the boyfriend alleged that she had thrown the sandwich at him. The officer reportedly refused to get statements from the children and told her to "stop acting like a victim" and simply leave if it was so bad.

Of course, anyone who has endured an abusive relationship knows it's not always so simple. In fact, leaving a relationship is often the most dangerous time.

The responding officer then told her if she did not pack her bags and leave the home, she would be arrested.

Other instances of abuse involved being struck in the eye with a large book, being threatened while her boyfriend drove drunk and recklessly and his refusal to transport her daughter to the hospital after she suffered a broken arm.

Yet after each reported incident, the responding officers sided with her boyfriend.

Her lawsuit seeks an injunction against him, as well as a declaratory judgment for battery, assault and gender violence.

Continue reading "L.A. Sheriff's Spouse Alleges Domestic Abusers Given "Free Pass"" »

The female officer was still a rookie when a lieutenant was transferred to her precinct in New York City.

It was then she alleges that the sexual harassment began.

Our Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyers know that cases of inappropriate behavior toward female officers by their colleagues are not limited to the West Coast. Examples are found all over the country - though this is a particularly egregious one.

We also know that these lawsuits take courage to file. For most officers, especially females and especially newer officers, there is an extreme reticence to take this action. Even when they know what is happening is unacceptable, they don't want to be seen as weak or unable to handle it on their own.

However, when superior officers target them for consistent harassment, the effects are damaging not only psychologically and emotionally, but professionally as well. Refusing to submit to sexual demands or requests can result in negative consequences on the job. Those might include retaliatory actions such as reduced hours, undesirable assignments or intensified scrutiny.

Department leaders have historically taken the side of the superior officer, therefore casting the complainant as a "trouble maker" in an attempt to make her less credible.

All of this is why it's advisable for someone suffering from sexual harassment to consult with a lawyer before you even file a complaint with your employer. We are your advocates, and even if we don't get directly involved right away, we can advise you on the best steps to take to document the incidents and ensure they are appropriately documented and reported. That way, if swift, decisive action isn't taken, you have a stronger civil case to take to court.

In this case, the newly-transferred lieutenant reportedly wasted no time in targeting the victim. Soon after meeting her, he invited her to his home for dinner, mentioning that his wife would not be home. The rookie, who was also married, declined.

He made repeated comments about her body, which she tried to brush off. When she returned from taking a sick leave he grabbed her in an awkward embrace that lasted several beats too long.

Another time, he began massaging her shoulders, an action at which she said she instantly recoiled. He responded by chastising her about whether she liked white men (she is black).

He later made it a point to brag to her about how the chief was his "boy."

All of this would have more than constituted enough for a complaint. However, she didn't file a formal one with the agency until he reportedly ran his hand suggestively down her back. When she snapped at him to ask what he was doing, he responded he was checking to see if she was wearing a bullet-proof vest.

After that, the lieutenant ordered her to seek a psychological evaluation for "anxiety." The agency therapist said she was drinking excessively to deal with stress and ordered her to go to rehab. She refused, and was subsequently suspended for one month.

The lieutenant was later docked about a week's worth of vacation time for failing to maintain professional decorum in the workplace, but other than that, has remained in his position within the department.

Continue reading "Rookie Cop Files Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Lieutenant " »

The chief of police for the Newport Beach Police Department is embroiled in a sexual harassment claim involving a former dispatcher, also the wife of a fired officer.

Our Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyers know that victims in these situations have often endured so much by the time they turn to the courts for justice. This case appears to be no different.

The victim's basic claim is that she was not only sexually harassed by the chief, but also discriminated against and then wrongfully terminated. The lawsuit names both the city and the police department, but the majority of the allegations are directed squarely at the chief.

The chief, city manager and city attorney all deny the claims made in the complaint, filed recently in the Orange County Superior Court, though such denials are boilerplate in the beginning stages of a sexual harassment case.

The former dispatcher says that she had worked with the city since 1990, going to part-time beginning in 2001.

Then in 2011, her husband, a police officer with the city, was fired. Prior to his termination, he had testified on behalf of a sergeant who had alleged mistreatment by both colleagues and superiors because the sergeant was gay. Prior to that testimony, the officer had been given great reviews, as well as a number of awards and commendations. Subsequent to his testimony, however, the officer was the subject of numerous internal investigations that he said were clearly retaliatory. His colleagues called him a traitor. After he was fired, he filed suit against the city last year, alleging retaliation and wrongful termination.

It was following his filing of a lawsuit that his wife says the chief began to harass her. In one instance, the chief reportedly called the dispatcher into his office to discuss her husband's conduct. One of the allegations that had been made against her husband involved improper use of city computers to view pornography while on duty - a charge her husband had denied. During that one-on-one closed-door session, the dispatcher says the chief sat within inches of her and attempted during that time to physically intimidate her.

In the months after that, she says there were a number of other occasions when the chief proceeded to harass her. In another encounter, he approached her dispatch console and again stood within inches of her and told her that he "really liked" her.

These actions understandably had her feeling intimidated and uncomfortable. She reported them to her supervisor, she says, but nothing was done.

Then one day, she handled a 911 call that she says was severely emotionally distressful. She asked for a few minutes to herself. The supervisor would later report that her conduct was "disruptive" to the rest of the staff.

Policy would have dictated that after such an incident she be directed to speak with a psychologist. However, that did not happen and several months later, it was on the basis of her actions that day that she says the department moved to fire her.

This case shows that sexual harassment need not include quid pro quo demands for sex or even necessarily physical touching. The events described here, however, could meet the criteria for the establishment of a hostile work environment.

Some other examples of sexual hostile work environment harassment are:

• Leering;


• Offensive remarks about body parts, clothing or looks;


• Touching in a manner that makes the employee uncomfortable;


• Telling sexual jokes, hanging lewd posters or making sexually-suggestive gestures;


• Forwarding sexually-explicit e-mails, notes or images.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Claim Involves Police Chief, Dispatcher" »

A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy may face criminal charges, as well as a possible civil lawsuit, for his alleged abuse of an inmate who was serving as an informant to federal investigators.

Our Los Angeles police brutality attorneys understand that the deputy in question reportedly targeted the inmate solely because he was providing information to agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding an international drug trafficking operation.

Last July, the inmate, who had been assigned a number of handlers, revealed that the deputy in question had punched him in both the ribs and torso. At the time, the deputy reportedly chastised the informant, saying he was no one special and threatening to cause him further physical harm if they were ever alone in a room together for any extended length of time.

This is not the first time the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department has been hounded with allegations of staff-inflicted violence on inmates. Two years ago, Sheriff Lee Baca acknowledged that brutality at the jail - the nation's largest - was a problem.

However, the Los Angeles Times learned there were documents revealing that officials had known about the abuse and misconduct for potentially years prior. Cases involved numerous allegations of excessive force, for which no one was ever punished.

An audit found that in a single year, there were at least 100 violent encounters between inmates and deputies after which it was learned that deputies had "dramatized" the circumstances of what had occurred in order to justify their use of excessive force.

In other cases, deputies delayed stepping in with weapons that could end violent physical fights between inmates. The goal, the report indicated, was to ensure "jailhouse justice" was carried out before authorities stepped in.

Some of the violence inflicted by deputies against inmates was reportedly triggered by a display of disrespect by the inmate. But in many cases, no matter how severe the injury, supervisors failed to interview all relevant witnesses or implement any discipline for the deputies. And out of four cases in which additional training was ordered, only two of the deputies actually bothered to go.

So it is amid this backdrop that we have the most recent incident.

A number of others backed the inmate's story, including one deputy who reported that he was on the other side of a wall when he heard what sounded like a confrontation between the informant and the deputy. The deputy reported that when he rounded that corner, he saw his colleague pinning the informant against the wall, and the informant in tears.

Jail records reveal that the informant had proven a reliable source for information on the operations of a significant drug-smuggling ring, which had recently led to a six-figure bust.

A spokesman for the sheriff's office said that an internal investigation by the agency had been completed and that, at least for the time being, the deputy had been relegated to a desk job, while criminal prosecutors determine their next move. It was unclear whether the deputy's alleged abuse had any effect on the informant's ability to continue to assist federal authorities.

It's not even the first time this particular deputy has been accused of mistreatment. Another inmate said the deputy had elbowed him hard in the ribs, following a perceived slight, and then threatened to shock him with a Taser.

The deputy is also accused of threatening another fellow deputy with physical harm, though it's not clear what that encounter entailed.

Continue reading "Los Angeles Deputy Accused of Brutality Against Inmate Informant" »