Discrimination

Ryan Carter BURBANK -- A trio of city employees suing the city for job discrimination and wrongful termination must amend portions of their claim, a Los Angeles Superior Coury judge has ruled. In his order, issued last week, Judge William Highberger asked attorneys for Tina Staffon, Richard Benson and Beverly Starleaf to amend their claims of age and disability discrimination, job retaliation, gender discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful discharge.

A discrimination lawsuit filed by a former manager of a Home Depot in Burbank against the company was settled earlier this month, court records show. Last month, a U.S. District judge ordered an independent mental evaluation of Danielle Mailhoit, who claimed she was fired in 2010 due to gender discrimination and because she suffers from vertigo. She claimed the company didn't make appropriate accommodations for her condition, an allegation Home Depot denies. The company countered that there were valid reasons for Mailhoit's termination, stating “there existed legitimate, nondiscriminatory and nonretaliatory reasons” for her dismissal.

Ryan Carter BURBANK -- Burbank officials are hoping that two discrimination lawsuits pending against the city will go the way of a case that was dismissed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Judge Madeleine Flier upheld the city's motion Tuesday to dismiss the discrimination suit filed by Marie Galvez, Lawrence Lee Wagenbach and Swen Williams, after the plaintiffs failed to produce an amended complaint, authorities said. The trio alleged in their lawsuit, which was filed in May, that while they were employed in the city's Public Services Department last year, they endured racial and age discrimination by Assistant General Manager Richard Corbi while suffering retaliation and wrongful termination for making internal complaints.

DOWNTOWN — The Burbank Police Department has severed ties with three more police officers, bringing to 10 the total number of officers fired since the city initiated a probe into allegations of misconduct stemming from the 2007 Porto's Bakery robbery. All of the officers were fired for allegedly acting improperly or using excessive force. While some of the alleged misconduct occurred during the robbery investigation, other actions were discovered when the city widened its internal review of the incident.

I'm troubled - troubled by the inequity found in double standards and discrimination evident in Burbank demonstrated by its smoking ordinance. Within a specific parameter downtown, no one may legally smoke but for some apparent exemptions predicated on dubious justifications whose true cause can only be guessed. Two of the flagrant violations to equitable treatment are found at Café O and Gitana, two hookah lounges. They belch prodigious clouds of tobacco smoke into the very Burbank air the ordinance was created to render cleaner and healthier for all. The courtyard at Video Symphony between these hookah lounges - which sports not one but three signs indicating no smoking in Burbank - has, instead, become a smoker's Mecca that is entirely ignored by law enforcement.

The latest lawsuit filed against the Burbank Police Department this week brings the number of current and former officers claiming some form of mistreatment to seven, a disturbing trend that begs a high-level review of just what’s going on over there. In the latest lawsuit, police Capt. Bill Taylor alleged he was unfairly demoted from his post as deputy chief after pushing for investigations into claims of abuse and sexual misconduct among the rank and file. Four officers and a lieutenant filed a discrimination lawsuit against the department in May alleging racial discrimination and sexual harassment, followed by a lawsuit in July from a Japanese American former police detective claiming he was unlawfully fired in retaliation for lodging racial discrimination complaints.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Thursday told jurors they cannot consider claims made by Burbank Police Officer Cindy Guillen that she faced harassment based on her ethnicity and gender. The ruling leaves jurors to consider only whether Guillen faced discrimination because of her pregnancy, and retaliation when she complained. She also alleges in her lawsuit that the city did nothing to address her complaints. Guillen had alleged that she was sexually harassed and, as a Latina, faced on-the-job discrimination - accusations the city denied earlier this week in court.

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. The claim alleges City Atty. Dennis Barlow and his deputy, Carol Humiston, disclosed the private personnel file and termination notice for former police Det. Christopher Lee Dunn to the Burbank Leader ?

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.