A Los Angeles County jury has awarded a former LAPD sergeant $4.5 million after finding that department officials retaliated against him when he reported another officer for billing Metro Transit for overtime work that was never performed.
The lawsuit by Randy Rangel, who spent 32 years with the department before retiring in 2023, was the latest in a string of lawsuits involving officers from the department's Transit Services Division over allegations of overtime fraud, gender discrimination and lax supervision. Often, the officers who sued alleged they faced backlash from their bosses after having pointed fingers at their own colleagues.
In Rangel's case, he said his troubles started in February 2018 when he alleged a sergeant, Humberto Najera, was overreporting overtime.
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Rangel claimed he reported the issue up the chain of command on at least two occasions in 2018 and 2019 but the department never launched an investigation.
Read more: Judge tosses police union lawsuit against LAPD commander accused of computer fraud
Instead, he said in his lawsuit, he became the target of a months-long retaliation and harassment campaign. He eventually lost his position as captain's adjutant, considered a springboard to promotion, and suspects that someone from the command staff started a false rumor that he was sleeping with a civilian secretary.
Fearing further retaliation, Rangel said, he filed a complaint anonymously with Internal Affairs in February 2020.
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