Former detective files second police claim

The attorney representing a former Burbank police detective who is suing the city for on-the-job racial discrimination filed a second claim against the city Wednesday, alleging executives illegally disclosed personnel and termination records to the media in an attempt to discredit his client.

City attorneys denied the claim a day later, setting the stage for a potential lawsuit.

The claim alleges City Atty. Dennis Barlow and his deputy, Carol Humiston, disclosed the private personnel file and termination notice for former police Detective Christopher Lee Dunn to the Burbank Leader “and other members of the press and general public” on July 16, the same day Dunn filed his race discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit against the city.

Dunn, a recipient of the Los Angeles Police Department Medal of Valor before joining Burbank’s force in 2001, claimed in his lawsuit that he was ridiculed for his Japanese ancestry, got less desirable work assignments and was illegally fired when he complained.

On Saturday, the Leader published a story citing Dunn’s personnel record, which included a letter from Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, who determined the officer tipped off a drug informant, action that amounted to “obstruction of justice” and “an act involving moral turpitude.”

City officials cited the determination as part of its reason for termination. Dunn, who refuted Cooley’s findings, claims he was fired because he complained of a hostile and discriminatory work environment.

Dunn’s attorney, Solomon E. Gresen, alleged in his latest claim Wednesday that the city attorney’s office illegally leaked the personnel file to discredit his client as the discrimination lawsuit broke in the media.

“What they did was illegal and a clear violation of California law,” Gresen’s spokesman, Eric Rose, said.

Barlow on Wednesday defended the disclosure as an attempt to correct the public record in the wake of Dunn’s original discrimination lawsuit, saying state law “specifically allows the city to respond to public statements, published in the paper, where he knows they’re not true.”

Otherwise, he added, the city is “very careful” to not release private personnel records.