Los Angeles is moving forward with a $2.2 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit filed by an LAPD sergeant who alleged that after being injured on the job she was harassed and discriminated against by a supervisor.
On Tuesday, the City Council approved the settlement in a 13-0 vote with members Curren Price and John Lee absent. Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson made a brief comment on the matter, saying such lawsuits could be avoided with “basic supervision.”
“This is another personnel lawsuit from the Los Angles Police Department. I think a lot of these lawsuits could be avoided with basic supervision training of everybody who supervises anybody in any of our departments, but especially the police department, which has more employees than most,” he said.
“The facts that I see in front of me are just really basic supervision rules that we see time and time and time again,” Harris-Dawson added.
A representative for the City Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the plaintiff’s attorney.
In her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed in March 2021, Sgt. Bridget Pickett alleged discrimination, retaliation, harassment and failure to protect her from such actions. In November 2025, the city and plaintiff’s attorneys filed court papers with Judge Rupert Byrdsong, notifying him that they’ve reached a tentative resolution of the case, which was subject to final approval by the City Council.
At the time, terms of the agreement were not revealed.
In their previous court papers, lawyers for the City Attorney’s Office denied Pickett’s allegations and contended they were barred by the statute of limitations and by immunity granted to the city.
Pickett contended that for more than three years she and other officers with disabilities were subjected to a hostile work environment created by her supervisor, Cmdr. Anne Clark. The plaintiff said Clark made it clear that she frowned upon officers who took leave for on-duty injuries.
In December 2017, Pickett told Clark she was going to have surgery on one of her feet for an on-duty injury, prompting Clark to react with “disappointment,” the suit stated.
A month later, when Pickett told Clark she needed a second surgery on the same foot due to a loose screw, Clark replied, “Are you kidding me?” the suit alleged.
Clark then stopped talking to Pickett and left her out of the supervisor’s email communications list, the suit stated.
In June 2018, when Pickett tried to pick up a box to assist a female officer, Clark said, “You better not pick that up. I don’t want you going off work again,” according to the suit.
Clark later harassed Pickett by accusing her of not paying for use of a parking space and downgraded her to a lower-ranking sergeant, the suit alleged.
In May 2019, an LAPD captain removed Pickett as the acting assistant watch commander and initiated a complaint against her alleging she failed to render aid during a shooting in Harbor Division, even though she was transporting a civilian observer that evening, the suit stated.
In August 2019, the captain stripped Pickett of all supervisory duties, reassigned the sergeant to desk duty, forbade her from supervising any employees and said she could not work overtime shifts, according to the suit.
Pickett’s doctor placed her on medical stress leave in September 2019 and her workers compensation claim was denied four months later, the suit stated. In addition, Pickett was placed on leave in December 2019 pending surgery for another work injury, the suit stated.