One current LAPD sworn member and a second who is now retired want a judge to order the city to produce internal department records that they say may bolster their whistleblower retaliation claims.
Retired Lt. Eric Bixler and Det. Richard Jaramillo filed the complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging a captain and a deputy chief targeted them for being a witness to a Black officer’s complaint that he was picked to be part of Mayor Karen Bass’ bodyguard detail because he, like the mayor, is Black.
In court papers filed Tuesday with Judge Teresa Beaudet in advance of a Sept. 14 hearing, the plaintiffs lawyers state that after their clients filed pre-lawsuit government claims, a captain and a deputy chief maligned the plaintiffs’ supervisory skills in front of other LAPD command staff and denied them and their team’s officers resources necessary to keep them safe.
The LAPD conducted an investigation to determine whether the captain and deputy chief, and others, took any retaliatory actions against the plaintiffs in response to their “protected activity,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers state in their court papers.
“In other words, the internal investigation examined the incidents that are the basis for this lawsuit,” according to the plaintiffs’ lawyers’ pleadings.
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