Post by copperkid3 on Jan 17, 2016 21:51:38 GMT -5
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday agreed to pay nearly $1 million to a former Westside motorcycle officer
who said the Police Department retaliated against him for not participating in an illegal traffic ticket quota system.
The payment, recommended by the Los Angeles city attorney's office, was
approved unanimously by the City Council, with Councilman Bob Blumenfield absent.
The $950,000 agreement resolves a 2014 lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court
by Dan Gregg, a former officer with the Los Angeles Police Department's West Traffic Division.
www.latimes.com/local/cityhall/la-me-0114-lapd-settlement-20160114-story.html
Gregg alleged that his supervisor, Capt. Nancy Lauer, required officers in the division to write a set number of traffic tickets during each shift,
establishing a quota system that violated state law. Gregg's job included assigning other officers' overtime, and, beginning in 2009, Lauer
instructed him to deny overtime to those who did not meet their quotas, according to the lawsuit.
Gregg said in the lawsuit that he was denied a promotion after complaining about the alleged quota system and that one of his
supervisors followed him to a doctor's appointment "in an attempt to find some misconduct so that Lauer could punish [him]."
In 2011, Gregg testified on behalf of two veteran motorcycle officers, Howard Chan and David Benioff,
who made similar allegations against Lauer and members of her command staff in a separate lawsuit.
A jury awarded Chan and Benioff $2 million combined.
After Gregg testified, his supervisors punished him by denying him overtime, filing a bogus internal affairs complaint,
placing him on involuntary leave and wrongfully firing him from the department, his lawsuit alleged.
"This has been litigated for many years, and I think it was in the best interest of both sides to put it to rest,"
said Gregory W. Smith, an attorney for Gregg, adding that "there's always some pleasure in finality."
who said the Police Department retaliated against him for not participating in an illegal traffic ticket quota system.
The payment, recommended by the Los Angeles city attorney's office, was
approved unanimously by the City Council, with Councilman Bob Blumenfield absent.
The $950,000 agreement resolves a 2014 lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court
by Dan Gregg, a former officer with the Los Angeles Police Department's West Traffic Division.
www.latimes.com/local/cityhall/la-me-0114-lapd-settlement-20160114-story.html
Gregg alleged that his supervisor, Capt. Nancy Lauer, required officers in the division to write a set number of traffic tickets during each shift,
establishing a quota system that violated state law. Gregg's job included assigning other officers' overtime, and, beginning in 2009, Lauer
instructed him to deny overtime to those who did not meet their quotas, according to the lawsuit.
Gregg said in the lawsuit that he was denied a promotion after complaining about the alleged quota system and that one of his
supervisors followed him to a doctor's appointment "in an attempt to find some misconduct so that Lauer could punish [him]."
In 2011, Gregg testified on behalf of two veteran motorcycle officers, Howard Chan and David Benioff,
who made similar allegations against Lauer and members of her command staff in a separate lawsuit.
A jury awarded Chan and Benioff $2 million combined.
After Gregg testified, his supervisors punished him by denying him overtime, filing a bogus internal affairs complaint,
placing him on involuntary leave and wrongfully firing him from the department, his lawsuit alleged.
"This has been litigated for many years, and I think it was in the best interest of both sides to put it to rest,"
said Gregory W. Smith, an attorney for Gregg, adding that "there's always some pleasure in finality."