Facts

Dean Nyland, 63, was a 14-year veteran with the Yolo County Sheriff's Office and was a detective for five years when he was terminated in September 2020. In 2018, a young female Deputy told Nyland that she had been sexually harassed by a Field Training Officer, Sergeant Charles Hoyt, and other members of Hoyt's team. Nyland reported the sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior by Hoyt to Captain Oviedo. Oviedo conducted an investigation and dismissed the allegations. Nyland was then put on a graveyard shift. Nyland filed a Department of Fair Employment and Housing complaint and received a right to sue on August 13, 2020, and filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and received a right to sue on October 8, 2020.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended that he was terminated and denied promotions by defendants because of his age and his opposition and exposure of sexual harassment and discrimination in the sheriff's office. Moreover, plaintiff maintained that defendants took these actions without cause or legal justification based on discrimination, hostility, and contempt for plaintiff. Plaintiff also argued that defendants replaced him with a younger, less qualified employee before relegating plaintiff to the graveyard shift. Plaintiff alleged that Hoyt harassed multiple women who worked with the sheriff's office and was eventually forced to resign, but that there is still a culture of retaliation and harassment in the department that Oviedo has covered up. Plaintiff claimed that as many as 50 employees left the sheriff's office since 2018 and that 80% of the employees knew about 75% of the harassment that goes on in the office but fail to report it. Plaintiff further alleged that Oviedo threatened to shoot him in the head for answering questions from previous Sheriff Prieto regarding a murder investigation and told never to the discuss the case because Oviedo believed Prieto was furnishing Public Defender Tracie Olson information. Finally, plaintiff argued that he suffered humiliation, anxiety, mental anguish, emotional distress, lost wages and loss of earning capacity from these actions.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants denied all contentions.

Result

$350,000 settlement