Pearl v. City of Los Angeles

Sex Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation

Los Angeles County

Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger

Plaintiff’s Lawyers: Todd F. Nevell, Daniel G. Sheldon, Scolinos, Sheldon & Nevell

Defense Lawyers: Dennis C. Kong, Shanise M. Black, Los Angeles city attorney’s office

Todd F. Nevell led a legal team that convinced a Los Angeles County jury to award a former city sanitation worker $17.4 million in a retaliation and sexual harassment lawsuit.

The jury found James Pearl endured repeated harassment by his supervisors, who falsely perceived that he was gay.

“I haven’t had an employment case where the plaintiff was so adversely impacted by his work environment, physically and emotionally,” Nevell said. “With him, it doesn’t stop with the verdict. He’s left with disabilities that will continue for the rest of his life.”

Photographs of Pearl were altered to falsely depict him in a same-sex relationship with another employee and those pictures were circulated to other workers, according to court documents. Pearl v. City of Los Angeles, BC518568 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Aug. 15, 2013).

“I would hope that we’ve advanced enough in most cases where being perceived as gay isn’t damaging or harmful,” Nevell said. “However, this is a department that is stuck in the Dark Ages in how they treat people, especially gay individuals.”

Getting the jury to understand how being perceived as gay was harmful to Pearl was challenging, Nevell said.

“In this environment, management was openly hostile to anyone they perceived to be anything other than a straight, white male,” he said. “That came through slurs and images that they circulated about Pearl based on the perception that he was gay.”

A high-ranking official in the Bureau of Sanitation knew that Pearl was being mistreated but did nothing to stop it, court documents said.

“The city buried documentation of the misconduct and claimed that they were never informed of it, but outside of discovery, we were able to find witnesses and emails which confirmed that they did receive notice about what was happening to Mr. Pearl,” Nevell said. “But they allowed it to continue rather than address it.”

The jury and judge sided with the plaintiffs.

“The first thing is that numerous city employees and, most importantly, managers perjured themselves repeatedly during trial,” Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger wrote. “Those witnesses were impeached, discredited and their stories were largely nothing but fabrications.”

The city filed post-trial motions requesting a new trial and asking the judge to overrule and change the jury’s decision. Czuleger denied the request for a new trial but did trim $5 million from the jury’s verdict and attorney fees. The city has filed a notice of appeal.

Nevell said he hopes the case will have lasting positive impacts for other plaintiffs.

“There’s hope that this case will help change a department that hasn’t changed in 50 years — where protected differences like your sexual orientation, your race, your gender, don’t get held against you,” he said.

— Melanie Brisbon