City worker fired after refusing to change testimony in suit against city: Retaliation: Emotional distress: Postverdict settlment

Law Reporter, May 2002

City worker fired after refusing to change testimony in suit against city: Retaliation: Emotional distress: Postverdict settlement.

Schell v. City of Los Angeles, U.S. Dist. Ct., C.D. Cal., No. CV 00-1454 FMC, Aug. 2001.

Schell, 48, a Los Angeles city employee, was expected to be a key plaintiff' witness in a class action against the city involving the timely payment of overtime to police officers. During her deposition, Schell testified that it was possible for the city's computer system to pay overtime in a timely fashion. This contradicted other city employees, who stated that police officers were not properly paid because the computers could not process the overtime pay in a timely manner.

The city's attorney asked Schell to change her testimony, but she refused, and was immediately harassed by supervisors and coworkers. Schell asked for a transfer, and the police department ombudsperson presented her with a document that conditioned the transfer on her agreement to retire within one year and release any legal claims that she might have against the city. After Schell refused to sign the document, she was involuntarily transferred to a new assignment that lacked job duties or adequate office equipment. Schell was later terminated for allegedly accessing a confidential document improperly.

An accounting office employee who had earned $79,000 annually, Schell has been unable to work since her termination and has suffered emotional distress.

Schell sued the city, the police chief, and the ombudsperson, alleging wrongful termination in violation of public policy, among other claims. Plaintiff claimed that she had been transferred and accused of misconduct in retaliation for refusing to shade her testimony in the overtime case. Plaintiff also contended the allegations of misconduct were fabricated, in that the document she accessed was on a public drive that everyone in her department could open.

The jury awarded plaintiff $4.36 million, including $500,000 punitive damages against the police chief and $250,000 punitive damages against the ombudsperson.

The parties later settled the case for $3.75 million.

Plaintiff's experts were Sal Maddi, clinical psychology, Irvine, Cal., and Stephanie Rizzardi Pearson, economics, Pasadena, Cal.

Plaintiff's Counsel

*Dan L. Stormer, Anne Richardson, and Sandra Munoz, all of Pasadena, Cal.