Three Baldwin Park Police Department officers sued the city Thursday, alleging they have been subjected to disparate treatment because they are white and not Latino.
Christopher Kuberry, Michael Hemenway and Raymond Findley filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging discrimination, harassment, retaliation and failure to take corrective action. They seek unspecified damages.
A representative for the city could not be immediately reached.
“The plaintiffs were denied promotional opportunities because they were Caucasian and not Latino,” the suit alleges. “Accordingly, the plaintiffs … were victims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation.’
For many years, then-Mayor Manny Lozano demanded that department heads follow his alleged recommendations for promotions so that Latino police officers would be promoted, whether or not they were the best qualified, the suit states.
“Mayor Lozano has not been bashful about how he views Caucasians, creating a hostile environment for all employees,” the suit states.
Lozano, who was defeated in a bid for an 11th term in November by 26-year-old Emmanuel Estrada, also disparaged some Latinos who he considered “too white” or “not Mexican enough,” the suit states.
Kuberry sued the city several years ago for racial discrimination and after a favorable resolution, was promoted to sergeant and later to lieutenant, the suit states.
In 2019, Kuberry was placed into an acting captain role but Lozano directed the interim police chief to remove Kuberry from the position, the suit states. When the interim chief refused, Lozano removed the latter from his position, according to the suit.
When Kuberry subsequently planned to vie for one of two expected openings for captain, Lozano’s “racial hostility” put his prospects in doubt, the suit states.
In late 2019, Kuberry and Hemenway were subjected to an internal affairs probe so frivolous that the outside investigator was himself was puzzled why Kuberry was called in to be interviewed for the investigation, according to the suit. Both he and Hemenway were exonerated, the suit states.
Findley was denied a promotion to a permanent position of lieutenant, but was later appointed as acting lieutenant and acting captain, the suit states.
Last June, the police chief went out on stress leave and the city gave Findley authority to run the department’s daily operations, the suit states.
Soon thereafter, Findley ended the acting positions of three Lozano-allied Latino officers because city personnel rules only allowed acting positions for six months and the three officers were serving beyond that period, despite protests from the city manager, the suit states.
As a direct and legal result of the actions of the city, the three officers suffered economic losses, litigation costs, attorneys’ fees and other harms and damages, the suit alleges.