A federal jury determined today that Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick was wrongfully fired by the city’s police commission and mayor two years ago.
The verdict came a week and a half after a civil trial began on a lawsuit Kirkpatrick filed in August 2020 alleging the city failed to protect her from being terminated in retaliation for being a whistleblower.
The jury awarded Kirkpatrick $337,635 in damages, which is the amount she would have received in severance pay had she not chosen to sue the city instead.
A spokesperson for Mayor Libby Schaaf referred a request for comment on the verdict to the city attorney’s office, which did not immediately respond.
Kirkpatrick’s lawsuit said she drew the ire of the police commission by telling city administrators that some commissioners abused and harassed police staff and sought special treatment because of their powerful role. The commission, made up of seven appointed city residents, oversees the police department’s policies and practices and has the authority to fire the police chief in conjunction with the mayor.
Kirkpatrick also accused the city of violating her free speech rights by firing her for speaking up.
Although the jury did not support Kirkpatrick’s free speech claim, it did agree that the firing was at least partially the result of retaliation.
“We thought she was speaking in her capacity as chief,” one of the jurors told Courthouse News Service after the trial. “We thought there was evidence that retaliation...
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