Rodney S. Diggs

Los Angeles

Labor & Employment & Civil Rights

Rodney S. Diggs joined the firm now called Ivie McNeill Wyatt Purcell & Diggs in 2011; his name went on the letterhead in 2019. The certified minority business enterprise handles cases ranging from banking and finance to personal injury and employment matters. Diggs specializes in employment, personal injury and civil rights cases. He heads the firm's employment practice.

In his first case as first chair, he achieved a $300,000 verdict for a victim of police misconduct. "I sharpened my sword and continued to learn my craft." When firm partner Rupert A. Byrdsong, an employment law expert, took a judgeship, Diggs took over the practice. "Of course, I said yes. It was an opportunity," Diggs said.

In a trial earlier this year, Diggs represented attorney Jaaye Person-Lynn in a civil rights suit against courthouse security officers in San Bernardino who tased and arrested him in a January 2019 confrontation. Diggs said the jury voted that the defendants were liable, but hung on damages. "We're looking to get a damages-only proceeding next," Diggs said. Person-Lynn v. County of San Bernardino et al., 2:20-cv-11578 (C.D. Cal., filed Dec. 23, 2020).

Person-Lynn is Black and was wearing a dashiki when he entered a courtroom to talk about a scheduling issue with a clerk. A deputy challenged him. "They clearly treated him differently because of his race and because he wasn't wearing a lawyer suit," Diggs said. "Before he could produce his bar card, he was shoved and tased. We're asking for $5 million."

Last year, a unanimous jury awarded his client $24.5 million for retaliation and wrongful termination after he was fired from a school district following the settlement of a prior suit, also filed by Diggs, for racial discrimination. Ross v. Bassett Unified School District, 19STCV22820 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed June 28, 2019).

Diggs has spent much of the time since trying to collect on the judgment. The school district appealed unsuccessfully on claims that the trial judge was prejudiced due to brief encounters during the trial she'd had with Judge Byrdsong, the former member of Diggs' firm. An appellate panel found no bias and awarded costs to Diggs.

-John Roemer