Dec 18, 2007 6:54 pm US/Pacific
Closing Arguments Heard In Gay Cop's Civil Suit
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
The LAPD's first openly gay police officer was a victim of broken promises and denied opportunities, spoiling his return to the department as part of the settlement of a prior lawsuit, his lawyer said Tuesday.
"They didn't want him continuing to do what they had promised him in the settlement he could do," Dan Stormer, attorney for Mitchell Grobeson, told a Los Angeles Superior Court jury.
But Ronald F. Frank, a lawyer for the city, said Grobeson engaged in progressive subordination that should have gotten him fired. He was not a victim of discrimination because of his sexual orientation, but instead of his own ego and selfishness, Frank said.
"It's All About Mitch," Frank said, derisively suggesting a name for a movie about Grobeson. "If you won't let me do it my way, I'll do it myself."
The attorneys' remarks came during closing arguments of the trial of Grobeson's 11-year-old civil suit against the city. The jury is scheduled to be instructed on the law Wednesday by Judge James R. Dunn, then begin deliberations.
Grobeson, now 48, first sued the city in 1988, alleging sexual orientation employment discrimination. The lawsuit was settled in 1993 and called for the LAPD to stop discriminatory practices against gay and lesbian employees and applicants.
Grobeson filed a second suit in 1996 alleging the city and the LAPD violated the accord.
The city and Grobeson reached an agreement Oct. 31 on part of the second suit when the city agreed to write into the administrative code guidelines strengthening its anti-discrimination policies concerning gays.
The city also said it would pay Grobeson more than $636,000 in attorneys' fees.
However, Grobeson's demand to be reinstated and his request for back pay were not resolved, resulting in the current trial. Grobeson is seeking $3.1 million to $4.4 million in damages, based on the possibility he could have reached a rank as high as captain had he remained with the LAPD after his first reinstatement in 1993.
Grobeson resigned under pressure from the LAPD in 1988 and then worked with the San Francisco State University Police Department and with the San Francisco Police Department, according to Stormer.
His goal was always to return to the LAPD and he was impressed by then-Chief Willie L. Williams' assertions that the department would no longer tolerate discrimination against gay and lesbian employees, Stormer said.
However, shortly after a refresher stint in the LAPD academy and his return to the department, a supervisor, Cmdr. Daniel Watson, began breaking some of the promises that had been made to him, Stormer said.
Grobeson retired in January 1995 with a psychological disability and later sought reinstatement for a second time, but the LAPD refused to bring him back, Stormer said.
"He is the epitome of someone who should be a police officer," Stormer told jurors.
But the LAPD didn't grant him job promotions and job opportunities he deserved, and assigned him upon his return to the West Los Angeles station, which he considered unfriendly to women, minorities and gays, the lawyer said.
Frank countered that Grobeson did not cooperate with his supervisors and made appearances at gay events in uniform in violation of LAPD policy.
By appearing at recruiting events and gay pride parades in uniform without permission, Grobeson gave the appearance he was a spokesman for the
LAPD, Frank said. This so angered his bosses that he was ordered out of his uniform at one parade, Frank said.
However, Grobeson stayed in uniform throughout the parade, according to Frank.
Grobeson also missed months of work claiming stress leave, Frank said.
Grobeson testified he currently makes less than $15,000 a year working part-time at PowerZone, a subsidiary of Capitol Drugs. But Frank said Grobeson has passed up numerous chances for public service jobs with good pay and that would not require him to carry a gun, which he cannot do because of his psychological disability retirement.
From the day he first returned to the LAPD in 1993, Grobeson was already planning to file a second lawsuit agaisnt the city, Frank said.
While denying Grobeson's allegations against the city, defense attorneys maintain that even if they were true he would be entitled to no more than $2.1 million in damages.
Some of the witnesses who testified against Grobeson are themselves gay, including Thomas Ward, a background investigation manager for the city and a former LAPD officer.
Ward testified he believed Grobeson, while still with the LAPD, used the occasion of an officer's death from AIDS to organize a benefit event that was really meant to promote himself.
Shortly after Ward finished testifying, Grobeson momentarily left the courtroom weeping. Stormer said his client was upset was because Ward had misconstrued his intent in organizing an event for the officer who died of AIDS.
Sgt. Lisa Phillips, an LAPD Medal of Valor winner who also is openly gay, told jurors Grobeson called her before her testimony and said she believed he did so in part to persuade her not to take the stand against him.
While the jury will be asked to assess whether Grobeson deserves any damages, it will be up to the judge whether he is reinstated to the LAPD.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
