Lawsuit

A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury on Monday rejected a lawsuit filed by a female Burbank police officer who claims she faced discrimination because of her pregnancy , and then retaliation when she complained, a city official said. The verdict came days after a judge threw out portions of the original lawsuit filed by Officer Cindy Guillen, including that she faced harassment based on her ethnicity and gender. Her attorney, Solomon Gresen, had sought up to $500,000 for pain and suffering, and $30,000 for lost wages due a lost assignment, but on Monday, the jury sided with the city, which painted Guillen in court as someone who holds grudges and was capitalizing on the Police Department's recent legal woes.

A former police officer who filed a federal wrongful termination lawsuit against the city last month is dismissing the case for procedural reasons. Separate from the lawsuit filed in March , Elfego Rodriguez in December asked the court to reverse the city's decision to uphold his termination, which was a result of his internal administrative appeal. He will wait until a decision is made on the December request - through which he is seeking attorney fees, back pay and benefits - to move forward with the wrongful termination lawsuit, said his attorney, Solomon Gresen.

Calling the complaint “frivolous and malicious,” a federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed against the Burbank Police Department in which a convicted pimp claimed false imprisonment and racial profiling stemming from charges filed against him more than two years ago. In November 2010, Odonga Rush, 41, was charged with two counts of identity theft and one count of forging a public seal after officers reported finding an unpaid ticket warrant...

Karen S. Kim AIRPORT DISTRICT -- A request to reopen a dismissed lawsuit against Southwest Airlines was denied Wednesday by Judge Marilyn Hoffman in Los Angeles. Cynthia Luther, who weighs more than 300 pounds, filed suit against the airline in May when she was asked to buy a second seat on a flight from Reno to Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport. In her lawsuit, Luther alleges discrimination and harassment because of her size. Hoffman dismissed the lawsuit in December and upheld the dismissal Wednesday.

DOWNTOWN — A seventh member of the Burbank Police Department has filed a lawsuit against the city and members of the department in federal court, alleging that his civil rights were violated by a rogue group of cops who used intimidation, harassment and brutality to keep him and witnesses from talking about several misconduct investigations. Burbank Police Det. Angelo Dahlia alleges that high-ranking members of the department investigating the 2007 robbery of Porto’s Bakery assaulted and beat witnesses and suspects “under the color of authority,” according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. Central District Court.

Laura Sturza LOS ANGELES -- Activists filed a lawsuit against the city of Burbank in federal court, saying the city did not meet environmental operating guidelines. "It's our position that they have failed to reduce pollution as required by federal law," attorney J. Scott Kuhn said of the lawsuit filed Monday. Communities for a Better Environment and Our Children's Earth Foundation claim the city and nine other defendants did not meet standards set by the Air Quality Management District.

Laura Sturza CIVIC CENTER -- In a special closed session Friday, Burbank City Council members hashed out a possible course of action regarding the city's lawsuit against the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, with no reportable results. The meeting, which lasted four and a half hours, was slated for a discussion on how and whether to find a way to provide legal defense for Measure A proponents and to attempt to reach a consensus on the complaint, officials said.

A convicted pimp has filed a $2.9-million lawsuit against the Burbank Police Department and the city claiming false imprisonment and racial profiling stemming from charges filed against him more than two years ago that were eventually dismissed. In November 2010, Odonga Rush, 41, was charged with two counts of identity theft and one count of forging a public seal, but the charges were eventually dismissed. In the lawsuit - filed Jan. 30 in U.S. District Court - Rush claims that Burbank police approached him “without probable cause” while he was in his car at a hotel.

GLENDALE — The serving of a lawsuit against state Sen. Carol Liu’s district director at her workplace last week was nothing more than a “bigoted publicity stunt,” the Council of American-Islamic Relations said Monday. Tahra Goraya, a former national director for the council, was served with the suit in her Glendale office. The federal lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., claims the Council of American-Islamic Relations allowed a manager to claim he was an attorney and provide bogus legal advice to the organization’s clients, costing at least one of them their job. Morris Days allegedly took money from those clients but did not file any claims on their behalf.

LOS ANGELES ? In publicly announcing a discrimination lawsuit Monday against the Burbank Police Department, the attorney representing one lieutenant and four police officers took Police Chief Tim Stehr to task for ordering his staff to stay silent on all internal matters. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges myriad sexual and racial discrimination incidents, and that complaints to the command staff were greeted with retaliation and lost promotions.

A judge on Wednesday denied Burbank's request to throw out a lawsuit filed by a former police officer who claims he was fired in retaliation for exposing alleged misconduct by his colleagues. The attorney for former officer Pete Allen hailed the judge's decision, calling the city's motion an “attempt to stall and delay justice.” City officials say they plan to appeal the ruling. Allen claims he was fired in retaliation for exposing alleged officer misconduct during an investigation into a robbery at Porto's Bakery in 2007.

A former police officer who filed a federal wrongful termination lawsuit against the city last month is dismissing the case for procedural reasons. Separate from the lawsuit filed in March , Elfego Rodriguez in December asked the court to reverse the city's decision to uphold his termination, which was a result of his internal administrative appeal. He will wait until a decision is made on the December request - through which he is seeking attorney fees, back pay and benefits - to move forward with the wrongful termination lawsuit, said his attorney, Solomon Gresen.

A judge this week is slated to rule on the city's request to dismiss a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former Burbank police officer. The officer, Pete Allen, was fired three years ago after he lied to internal investigators about officer misconduct stemming from the 2007 Porto's robbery investigation, according to the city. But Allen claimed he withheld the information out of fear of “retaliatory acts against him,” noting that a colleague who also knew about the alleged misconduct was “receiving threats from the perpetrators of the misconduct,” Los Angeles County Superior Court records show.

Burbank City Council members and candidates in the upcoming April 9 election say they are concerned about the rising cost of defending the city against lawsuits filed by former and current police officers in recent years. The city has spent more than $7.1 million while defending itself against the lawsuits that center around discrimination and wrongful termination, prompting some to question whether there isn't a more cost-effective way of handling the lawsuits. Council-elect Bob Frutos said he thinks the city should drop the appeal against former Deputy Police Chief Bill Taylor and Det. Steve Karagiosian, who've both been through trial and were awarded $1.3 million and $150,000 in damages, respectively.

A former Burbank police officer has filed a federal lawsuit against the city alleging that he was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for suing the city four years ago for racial discrimination and harassment. The lawsuit was filed last week in U.S. District Court by Elfego Rodriguez, who was one of five officers who sued the city for racial discrimination and harassment in 2009. Rodriguez was ultimately dropped from the joint lawsuit by a judge. It marks the latest lawsuit filed by former and current police officers that center on discrimination and wrongful termination.

Calling the complaint “frivolous and malicious,” a federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed against the Burbank Police Department in which a convicted pimp claimed false imprisonment and racial profiling stemming from charges filed against him more than two years ago. In November 2010, Odonga Rush, 41, was charged with two counts of identity theft and one count of forging a public seal after officers reported finding an unpaid ticket warrant...

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.

A convicted pimp has filed a $2.9-million lawsuit against the Burbank Police Department and the city claiming false imprisonment and racial profiling stemming from charges filed against him more than two years ago that were eventually dismissed. In November 2010, Odonga Rush, 41, was charged with two counts of identity theft and one count of forging a public seal, but the charges were eventually dismissed. In the lawsuit - filed Jan. 30 in U.S. District Court - Rush claims that Burbank police approached him “without probable cause” while he was in his car at a hotel.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to rehear a whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former Burbank police detective that a federal three-judge appellate court panel dismissed in August. Oral arguments in the case filed by Angelo Dahlia are set for March 18 in San Francisco, where an 11-judge panel will hear his claims that he was pushed out of the police department after he relayed alleged instances of misconduct made by fellow officers in the aftermath of a robbery in 2007.