In what is being hailed as one of the
largest public entity individual employment settlements ever in
California, the City of Emeryville (near Oakland) has agreed to pay
$2.3 million, plus $1.3 million in attorney’s fees, to a city employee
who claimed racial discrimination and retaliation.
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Employee Leslie Pollard worked for Emeryville for 27 years and was allegedly
harassed and then fired in 2005 after she had complained about racial
harassment of a co-worker. Leading up to the discharge, Pollard
charged, the then-city manager and human resources director placed
Pollard on administrative leave, banned her from entering city
buildings, and required her to undergo a fitness for duty exam by a
city-hired psychiatrist, who determined after just a two and one-half
hour interview and paper-and-pencil test that Pollard was unfit to
work. When Pollard requested to be seen by a neutral psychiatrist, the
city refused.
Pollard’s lawsuit charged that city management failed to address her
racial harassment concerns, instead taking retaliatory actions against
her. Prior to filing suit, Pollard also pursued and won a union
arbitration against the city in connection with the harassment and
discharge.
The city said its decision to settle the lawsuit “was an economic decision based upon the uncertainty of jury verdicts.”