Matthew S. McNicholas

Matthew S. McNicholas

LOS ANGELES - Matthew S. McNicholas and his firm represent plaintiffs in a broad variety of employment and injury cases, from discrimination to mass torts.

A significant part of his practice entails representing law enforcement officers and firefighters in litigation against their agencies for discrimination, retaliation and other mistreatment. He said he has represented the first Black member of the Los Angeles Police Department’s bomb squad, the first Asian American officer in its canine unit and the first open lesbian in air support.

He won a $4.3 million jury verdict against the LAPD in early May for refusing to assign a police lieutenant to desk duty following spinal fusion surgery. Vince v. City of Los Angeles, BC704165 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed April 27, 2018).

McNicholas said the lieutenant’s back problems were caused by years of wearing the 30 pounds of tactical vest and service belt required in the field. The bigger issue, he said, is that in 2019 the chief of police decreed the department would no longer accommodate injured officers for the long term.

“I’ve taken the position that’s unlawful on its face,” McNicholas said. He said he has about 18 accommodation cases pending, “and I’m just going to keep trying them until they change the policy.”

In April, he obtained a $3 million settlement from the Los Angeles Fire Department for six plaintiffs who blew the whistle on a program to rush building inspections. After the suit was filed, the department improved how it performs inspections and made other changes. Boyd v. City of Los Angeles, BC648879 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 1, 2017).

He also regularly sues police departments for retaliating against officers who resist ticket or arrest quotas, which are flatly prohibited by the Vehicle Code. He won a $3.5 million settlement for six Whittier police officers in 2020. And he is currently representing several LAPD officers over alleged quotas set for field interviews or arrests related to gangs.

“Right now, I have about 65 cases pending up and down the state on behalf of law enforcement and firefighters,” McNicholas said, including cases against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the police departments in Berkeley, Riverside, Palo Alto and Santa Barbara. “About 40 of those are against the LAPD.”

-Don DeBenedictis