Lawsuit

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.

CITY HALL — Four days after the city released a statement calling the latest lawsuit filed against its Police Department “baseless and disingenuous,” Mayor Gary Bric on Tuesday said the FBI was investigating the allegations. He also announced that the Burbank Police Department was being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which was to turn over its findings to the county district attorney’s office, paving the way for the city to bring in its own outside attorney to review the allegations.

The lawsuit filed this week against the Burbank Police Department on behalf of five officers purports to expose racial discrimination and sexual harassment. But what it certainly has done is spotlight the effects of a closed-ranks, good-ol’-boy ethos that has gone unchecked for too long. We at the Leader have been trying to break through for years, with varying degrees of success. But for so long, the propensity to close down in the face of requests for greater access has won out. As an example, take the popular police arrest log entries.

Josh Kleinbaum Worried that the state is trying to dip into one of its last remaining untouched revenue sources, Burbank has joined forces with more than 30 other cities to sue the state of California for backing bonds with funds earmarked for local governments. "The state has periodically taken city money, and we don't feel it's their right to take [it]," City Atty. Dennis Barlow said Thursday. "We don't think it's the city taxpayers' responsibility to balance the state budget with city taxes."

Mark R. Madler A frequent critic of the City Council has resorted to legal action to keep the city from paying the lawyer representing it in matters regarding the Bob Hope Airport. Mike Nolan filed for a temporary restraining order in Los Angeles Superior Court in late August to stop payments to Peter Kirsch because Kirsch is not licensed to practice law in California. He has represented the city on airport-related matters since 1995. A hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 12 on whether the order will be granted.

A jury this week sided with former Deputy Police Chief William Taylor to the tune of nearly $1.3 million, siding with his claims that he was fired in retaliation for refusing to sign off on the terminations of minority officers. In his 2009 lawsuit, Taylor also said he was retaliated against for raising concerns about how a sexual harassment incident was being handled. Late Monday afternoon, jurors awarded $1.29 million, with $250,000 of that awarded for pain and suffering, his attorney Gregory Smith said.

A practice of charging students for travel and other extracurricular expenses might end, Burbank Unified officials said. The ACLU of Southern California called those tactics discriminatory and unlawful pay-to-play policies in a lawsuit involving Burroughs High School and more than two dozen other California campuses filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The case contends that the practice of charging fees for student participation in academic subjects or extracurricular activities like athletics and band violates the state Constitution, which guarantees all children are entitled to a free and equitable education.

Will Rogers From personal experience, I know lawyers routinely urge their clients not to make public comments about lawsuits they're involved in. Also from personal experience, I know the advice is easier to give than it is to take. City Council candidate Howard Rothenbach has given lawyers yet another example to show their clients the many reasons to shut up. As was reported in the Burbank Leader last week, Rothenbach filed suit against his employer, alleging he suffered an injury at work.

With the first of a slew of lawsuits filed by current and former police officers against the city now concluded, Interim Police Chief Scott LaChasse this week acknowledged that a few in the ranks were not pleased with attempts to diversify the department. Following a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury's decision this week to award nearly $1.3 million to the former deputy chief, William Taylor, based on claims of being fired in retaliation for pushing for internal reforms and accountability measures, LaChasse sent an email to all officers.

1: Burbank Police’s year of problems:  A barrage of outside investigations, lawsuits filed against the city by current and former officers, a police sergeant taking his own life on a residential street and a no-confidence vote in the police chief just days after he announced plans to retire made for a turbulent year at the Burbank Police Department. For a city still grappling with the 2003 shooting death of Officer Matthew Pavelka, the series of events has pummeled morale and left many inside the department in limbo as they await the outcome of probes by the FBI and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.