A security guard who worked the graveyard shift at Los Angeles City Hall has settled her sexual harassment lawsuit against the company that employed her, in which she alleged that one supervisor asked her if she was on her monthly menstrual cycle.
Chandi Davis’ Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, filed against Platinum Security Inc., contended that her work environment forced her to her resign in 2023. Her suit alleged sexual harassment, gender discrimination, retaliation, failure to prevent harassment, discrimination and retaliation, constructive discharge and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
On Monday, her attorney, a member of the law firm of Lisa Bloom, filed court papers with Judge Peter Hernandez notifying him that the case was resolved. No terms were revealed.
In their court papers, Platinum Security attorneys denied Davis’ allegations and said that the company’s actions concerning Davis were permissible due to an “overriding legitimate business purpose” necessary to Platinum’s “safe and efficient operation.”
According to Davis’ suit, she was hired in April 2022 and patrolled the City Hall parking structures by car from midnight to 6 a.m. She was the sole provider for four young children, was the only female at her work site and she was happy to have a stable and secure income source, the suit stated.
Davis initially paid little attention to the gender disparity, but biases “brimmed underneath the surface” and one of her supervisors began to question her job capabilities, saying she was “too emotional,” the suit filed in May 2024 stated.
The same boss later questioned another guard, who was married, as to whether he and Davis were intimate while on duty, according to the suit, which further stated the supervisor shrugged off the plaintiff’s concerns when she complained.
The alleged harassment continued when a female guard from another firm told Davis that she had also heard that a Platinum woman guard with the same nickname as the plaintiff was sexually promiscuous, the suit stated.
“Plaintiff was shocked and embarrassed to find out that sexually inappropriate, humiliating and false rumors had been spread about plaintiff within and also outside of Platinum,” the suit further contends.
Another supervisor who overheard Davis once again protesting to the first boss about the alleged promiscuity rumors asked Davis, “What, are you on your period? You’re so emotional, calm down, it’s not that serious,” the suit alleged.
Exacerbated by the thought of having to see and continue working with the alleged harassing supervisor, she reached out to the human resources department directly, but the unsympathetic response left her even more distraught and concerned, the suit alleged.
In retaliation, the supervisor began giving her duties that required her to get out of her company car to perform without anyone to back her up for her safety, duties that were not asked of her previously, the suit stated.
“It became clear that (the supervisor) purposefully placed plaintiff in a position where she had inadequate protection and refused to provide an adequate amount of security to protect her in the dangerous job she performed,” the suit alleged.
Platinum cut Davis’ weekly hours from 42 to 30 and the boss “continued to poison her male colleagues against her for reporting his sexual harassment,” the suit stated.
The allegedly hostile work environment was so unbearable that Davis was forced to quit in January 2023, according the suit, which further stated that Davis is experiencing anxiety, stress, decreased quality and quantity of sleep and headaches and worries that it will be difficult to get a security guard job with another company.