San Diego police are sorry they sued the city

San Diego police are sorry they sued the city
Lorie Hearn
Watchdog Institute
December 16, 2010
By Kelly Thornton

The San Diego Police Officers Association has sued the city several times in recent years, and the city has spent $8.6 million to fight them so far. That makes the city’s own cops its most expensive legal adversary.

Now, the officers are sorry.

The police union has a new lawyer who called two of three lawsuits “frivolous” and has filed two malpractice lawsuits against the attorneys who sued in the first place.

“The San Diego Police Officers Association knows this was expensive litigation for the city and has apologized profusely and we’ve done what we can to make it right,” said the POA’s new attorney, Michael Conger, an employment, business and personal injury lawyer from San Diego. “We’ve gotten rid of any litigation to the city related to this nonsense.”

In total, there are 23 lawsuits filed against the city between 2003 and 2010 in which the city has spent more than $1 million. The POA cases are three of those. For all 23 cases, the city has spent $55.3 million, according to an analysis by the Watchdog Institute, a nonprofit investigative reporting center based at San Diego State University.

One of the three cases brought by the POA was to force the city to pay officers for time spent putting on uniforms and protective gear and answering work-related emails. Another case accused then-City Attorney Michael Aguirre of bribery and extortion related to contract negotiations, and sought his removal from office. A third suit was a spinoff of the second; both alleged that the city’s underfunding of the pension violated police officers’ constitutional rights.

The POA lost all three cases – two at summary judgment, meaning a judge didn’t even think the case was worth going to trial. In the overtime case, a federal jury decided in favor of the city after a six-week trial.

More than 1,000 officers opted to drop any appeals based on advice from Conger. The previous lawyer, Gregory Petersen, an Orange County civil rights and employment attorney, is appealing one of the cases on behalf of about 100 clients who’ve stuck with him.

As the cases dragged on, POA members’ credit cards were charged $20 to 40 a month. To cover legal fees, the organization had to mortgage its headquarters.

“I think they were hurt dramatically,” Conger said of the officers. “They paid Petersen over $2.8 million for the privilege of bringing frivolous lawsuits, and he didn’t win one single motion. He doesn’t think he did anything wrong and doesn’t want to pay a dollar.”

At the same time, the financially crippled city hired an outside legal firm, Latham & Watkins, at up to $750 an hour, because the city had a conflict defending against its own employees...

San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob is being bullied

County Supervisor Dianne Jacob recently published an essay in Voice of San Diego. She wrote:

"I was sued by the owner of the Los Angeles Times for speaking my mind about the business practices of one his companies, ironic because people involved in journalism are usually fierce defenders of free speech. Sam Zell’s Manufactured Home Communities--now operating under the name Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc.-- owns and operates more than 300 mobile home parks in 28 states, including four parks in the district I represent. At first, it was difficult to take Zell or his lawsuit seriously. There’s something amusing about being sued for defamation by an individual who calls himself the “grave dancer"...” I am convinced that Zell is using our judicial system to bully me and intimidate those who dare question how MHC treats its customers..."

I think too many people are terrified of being sued. Being sued is really not so bad. I should know; I'm being sued for defamation by Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz. My friends greet me with creased foreheads and downturned mouths when they ask me how I am. I'm fine.

What is terrible is that many people are silent about wrongdoing for fear of being sued. It seems to me that some people (like the partners at Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz, who are suing me in their spare time, when they are not too busy campaigning against lawsuit abuse) are trying to turn our entire society into a place where criminals rule the roost and witnesses are afraid to testify.

Elly Dotseth is concerned about Dianne Jacob and all who speak out. Elly wrote a letter to Voice of San Diego on April 16, 2008 saying:

"...people in our supposedly free country have begun to keep quiet from fear of being sued or blackballed in some other way. I have recently spoken out in criticism of the way the NTC Foundation is handling leases with nonprofit arts groups, and despite the reply from the director, I stand by my criticism. If he were to sue me, though, that would really be horrific."


Here is my response to Elly:

Kudos for standing up to the McMillin/NTC Foundation, and please be assured that it is not so bad getting sued when you have nothing to hide and the big guys that are suing you have plenty to hide. You simply file an answer, then go down to the courthouse and get a deposition subpoena that has been signed by the Clerk of the Court. Make some copies, fill them out, and serve them on the people who are suing you. They filed the lawsuit, so they had better be prepared to testify under oath and produce documents. If they fail to do so, you file a motion to compel that looks something like THIS.