EL SEGUNDO, CA — An El Segundo police officer has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, the Police Department and the local school district, arguing that he was harassed and faced discrimination — including being overlooked for a promotion — because he criticized public safety policies, budget cuts and political decisions.

Scott O’Connor, who filed the lawsuit Jan. 10, is asking for at least $25,000 for irreparable career and reputation damage, loss of wages and benefits, and mental anguish from the city’s Police Department, according to the lawsuit.

O’Connor “advocated for things like better salaries and (pay) increases in order to retain and recruit qualified officers,” said Matthew McNicholas, O’Connor’s attorney for the case.

Police Chief Bill Whalen declined to comment. A police lieutenant, the superintendent for El Segundo Unified School District and the principal of El Segundo High — all mentioned in the lawsuit — did not return multiple requests for comment last week.

In 2014, as a board member of the El Segundo Peace Officers Association, O’Connor publicly spoke against improper conduct and city budget cuts that would impact the Police Department, the lawsuit argues.

That year, the lawsuit argues, police management started discriminating against O’Connor, an act of retaliation for speaking and acting in favor of El Segundo police officers and the public. He also criticized some city officials and the Police Department’s policies, procedures and actions, according to the lawsuit.

O’Connor spread around the city in 2016 a message that the peace officers wanted to stop budget cuts and have the Police Department hire more officers to balance the increasing crime rates at that time, according to the lawsuit.

“There’s always friction between a POA and management, from my experience,” McNicholas said.

O’Connor, who has been on force for more than 23 years, applied for a school resource officer job at El Segundo High School early last year, the lawsuit reads, but lost the position to an officer who had fewer than two years of experience in the Police Department.

When a police officer is “identified as a complainer, you get marked and your career is just done because (you’re) ‘no longer a team player,’” McNicholas said.

O’Connor didn’t get the school resource officer position, McNicholas added, “even though he was the “most qualified, had the most time on the job and was the most desired” by Principal Melissa Gooden.

Gooden, according to the lawsuit, was dissatisfied with O’Connor getting passed over and told that to El Segundo Unified Superintendent Melissa Moore. Neither Gooden nor Moore responded to requests for comment.

After the hiring process, in May, El Segundo Lt. Dan Kim told the rest of the deciding panel that the officer who got the job did so based on her gender, according to the lawsuit.

Kim did not respond to requests for comment.

Police union members then told Whalen that the choice was out of retaliation, discrimination and harassment, according to the lawsuit. But Whalen did not investigate and instead disclosed to Moore the allegations, asking her to pressure Gooden to alter her statements, the lawsuit said.

O’Connor filed a claim with the city, the Police Department and El Segundo Unified on July 31, according to the lawsuit.

He also filed a complaint in July with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, an agency that protects employees from work discrimination, the lawsuit reads. The agency issued O’Connor a right-to-sue notice.

In 2014, as a board member of the El Segundo Peace Officers Association, O’Connor publicly spoke against improper conduct and city budget cuts that would impact the Police Department, the lawsuit argues.

That year, the lawsuit argues, police management started discriminating against O’Connor, an act of retaliation for speaking and acting in favor of El Segundo police officers and the public. He also criticized some city officials and the Police Department’s policies, procedures and actions, according to the lawsuit.

O’Connor spread around the city in 2016 a message that the peace officers wanted to stop budget cuts and have the Police Department hire more officers to balance the increasing crime rates at that time, according to the lawsuit.

“There’s always friction between a POA and management, from my experience,” McNicholas said.

O’Connor, who has been on force for more than 23 years, applied for a school resource officer job at El Segundo High School early last year, the lawsuit reads, but lost the position to an officer who had fewer than two years of experience in the Police Department.

Van Heusen Air Short Sleeve T-Shirt Men’s 498 Size: M

by Van Heusen

See More

When a police officer is “identified as a complainer, you get marked and your career is just done because (you’re) ‘no longer a team player,’” McNicholas said.

O’Connor didn’t get the school resource officer position, McNicholas added, “even though he was the “most qualified, had the most time on the job and was the most desired” by Principal Melissa Gooden.

Gooden, according to the lawsuit, was dissatisfied with O’Connor getting passed over and told that to El Segundo Unified Superintendent Melissa Moore. Neither Gooden nor Moore responded to requests for comment.

After the hiring process, in May, El Segundo Lt. Dan Kim told the rest of the deciding panel that the officer who got the job did so based on her gender, according to the lawsuit.

Kim did not respond to requests for comment.

Police union members then told Whalen that the choice was out of retaliation, discrimination and harassment, according to the lawsuit. But Whalen did not investigate and instead disclosed to Moore the allegations, asking her to pressure Gooden to alter her statements, the lawsuit said.

O’Connor filed a claim with the city, the Police Department and El Segundo Unified on July 31, according to the lawsuit.

He also filed a complaint in July with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, an agency that protects employees from work discrimination, the lawsuit reads. The agency issued O’Connor a right-to-sue notice.

From The Daily Breeze