Attorneys for a discharged Black Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant who alleges he was retaliated against for complaining of racial discrimination are seeking additional internal records as part of their trial preparation
Sgt. Reginald Hoffman also maintains he suffered a backlash for speaking out against the reputed presence of members of the Banditos gang of deputies at the East Los Angeles Station. The sergeant’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was filed in November 2022 and amended in October 2023, alleging racial discrimination, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
The LASD discharged Hoffman on Sept. 11 based on alleged inaccurate CET time keeping and supervisory misconduct in December 2022, according to Hoffman’s attorneys’ pleadings.
In addition to the county, Hoffman is suing Cmdr. Richard Mejia and Capt. Pilar Chavez. On Sept. 18, Hoffman’s lawyers filed court papers with Judge Upinder S. Kalra outlining the needs for the information. The attorneys seek three sets of internal documents in advance of trial, including those involving an Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau criminal investigation initiated concerning Hoffman and members of his Crime Enforcement Team regarding what Hoffman maintains are false time card fraud charges.
Hoffman also is requesting records of the related Internal Affairs Bureau administrative investigation regarding Hoffman and CET members as well as letters sent to subjects during the investigation explaining a need to extend the one-year period under the state Government Code as well as any records reflecting claimed delays in the IAB investigation.
Hoffman has previously made requests for internal department documents, including all IAB records regarding two separate Personnel of Equity complaints filed against Chavez by other LASD employees at the East Los Angeles Station that also allege harassment and retaliation.
“Sgt. Hoffman has reported deputy gang activity, the protection of the racist Banditos gang at the East Los Angeles Station and the rigging of promotional processes against him because he is, in defendant Chavez’s own words, a “Black man” and a “whistleblower,” Hoffman’s attorneys state in their court papers.
The plaintiff further maintains his complaints about the presence of the “Banditos” at the East Los Angeles Station ultimately caused 17 members of the alleged internal clique of deputies to be transferred.
In their previous court papers, county attorneys denied Hoffman’s allegations, said he had not suffered damages, contended that his claims are barred wholly or in part by the statute of limitations and said that any department actions taken concerning him were done with “proper managerial discretion.”
While at the East Los Angeles sheriff’s station, Hoffman supervised and devised the station’s tactical plans for the celebrations after the Dodgers’ National League Championship and World Series victories and the Lakers’ NBA Finals run, both in 2020, as well as the Rams’ 2022 Super Bowl win, according to the suit.
Hoffman took the lieutenants’ promotion exam in August 2021 and scored high marks, but was later told on appeal, after being denied, that he did not have enough time spent as a sergeant, the suit states. Hoffman additionally contends that Mejia harassed him for years beginning in 2019 because of the plaintiff’s race and played a role in his being passed over for promotions to lieutenant and detective sergeant, the suit states.