A straight former
police officer is suing the Los Angeles Police
Department, alleging she was fired after she complained
about discrimination by her gay supervisors, City News
Service reports. Cindy S. Perez is alleging wrongful
termination and sexual orientation discrimination in
her suit and is asking for unspecified general and
punitive damages.
According to her
court papers obtained by the news service, Perez was
aware that the LAPD's Pacific Division, where she worked,
"was and had been a lesbian-friendly environment and
had treated nonlesbian females...differently."
Heterosexual female officers at the division were
targeted for harassment and negative employment actions and
were not given the same opportunities as lesbians, she
alleges.
Perez alleges in
her suit that she was "ostracized, harassed, and
transferred to another assignment" after she filed a
misconduct complaint against a lesbian sergeant with a
history of sex discrimination complaints against her.
She also claims that she was falsely accused by a
lesbian lieutenant and a male sergeant of pointing her gun
at an officer she was training in December 2003. Those
allegations ultimately led to Perez's firing by Chief
William Bratton in July 2005, according to the
lawsuit.
"This termination
was discriminatory and was in retaliation for
reporting and opposing discrimination and harassment," Perez
stated in papers filed with the state Department of
Fair Employment and Housing last November. The
department has declined to comment. (The Advocate)
