Former LAPD Sergeant Settles Retaliation Suit Against City

A former Los Angeles Police Department sergeant reached a settlement with the city Wednesday in her lawsuit in which she alleged she was targeted for termination because of her outspoken claims that the Internal Affairs Division tries to silence some officers.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William F. Fahey conducted a successful mandatory settlement conference with the plaintiff, former Sgt. Sarah Dunster, and the city. No terms were divulged and it was not immediately clear if the accord is subject to final approval by the City Council.
Dunster’s amended Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleged whistleblower protection, retaliation, failure to prevent harassment, discrimination and wrongful discharge.
On Wednesday, the judge had been scheduled to conduct an in-chambers inspection of the personnel files of two department members in order to find possible misconduct evidence against the then-captain of the Hollywood Division station as well as another captain who was one of Dunster’s supervisors.
The records review was cancelled due to the settlement. In their previous court papers, lawyers for the City Attorney’s Office denied Dunster’s allegations and cited multiple defenses, including violation of the statute of limitations and that the city has immunity from her claims.
In her lawsuit brought in March 2024, Dunster contended that the department’s Internal Affairs Division maintains a “hostile investigation process” designed to suppress and intimidate officers and that “IA investigators are driven by incentives to terminate officers in order to secure promotions, thus perpetuating a corrupt system.”
Dunster was hired in 2011 and assigned to the Hollywood station. In December of that year, Dunster accompanied Officer Reynaldo Amaya in apprehending people allegedly involved in illegal marijuana-related activities, according to the suit, which further stated that Amaya was later investigated for allegedly discarding a suspect’s marijuana and providing misleading information to a sergeant.
Although Amaya acknowledged that he did not speak with Dunster about the marijuana, she was “subjected to a harassing and intimidating environment orchestrated by IA,” according to the suit, which also alleged that the command staff tried to coerce the plaintiff into testifying against Amaya, then penalized her for refusing to do so and called her statements misleading.
Then-LAPD Chief Charlie Beck criticized the investigation, stating that it insinuated that Dunster was aware of the marijuana’s location when she reasonably was not, the suit stated.
“Moreover, the investigating officer fabricated a policy to prevent Dunster from refreshing her recollection with the video that was exploited to unjustly implicate her,” the suit alleged.
A captain pressured Dunster not to pursue action against IA, stating, “Take your lumps and in five years, it’ll go away” while warning her that she could be fired if she fought back, the suit stated.
Despite the command staff’s alleged intimidation, Dunster was promoted to sergeant in 2019 and to detective two years later, the suit stated.
But Dunster and her team faced persistent harassment from IA due to her advocacy on behalf of fellow officers during investigations and she was warned to “stop stirring the pot,” the suit alleged.
Stemming from a citizen complaint, IA launched an “unjustified investigation” against Dunster in February 2023, alleging failure to assume command and control, providing misleading information and providing false statements, the suit stated.
The accusation stemmed from a woman’s complaints that two offers inappropriately touched her, according to the suit. Dunster went to the scene in her supervisor role and determined that the complainant’s contentions were refuted by an officer’s body camera, the suit stated.
“Despite substantive evidence to the contrary, including testimony from the department’s own expert in body-worn video, Dunster was fired,” the suit stated.