Avila v. Los Angeles Police Department

Police officer’s claim that the Los Angeles Police Department fired him in retaliation for testifying in a Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit brought by a fellow officer was not precluded by the LAPD Board of Rights’ recommendation that he be terminated for insubordination in not claiming overtime. District court did not err in declining to give two special jury instructions, and special verdict questions tied to those instructions, stating that an employee who engages in protected activity is not insulated from adverse action for violating workplace rules.

To the extent the city was urging that it would have reached the same decision on terminating the officer in the absence of his testimony in the prior lawsuit, the district court was well within its discretion in refusing to give the instructions because the evidence did not support the same decision defense, nor did it support the city’s argument that the firing was based on the content of the officer’s testimony, and not on the mere fact that he had testified.

District court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney’s fees of nearly $600,000, where the court reduced counsel’s requested rate; eliminated administrative, clerical, and unproductive hours; deducted 30 percent of time with vague billing descriptions; and reduced the overall amount by 10 percent to account for time "expended on the failed claims." Court did not abuse its discretion in awarding liquidated damages to compensate plaintiff "for a delay in payment of wages owed" as well as to "provide an incentive for future employees to report wage and hour violations by their employers."

     Avila v. Los Angeles Police Department - filed July 10, 2014

     Cite as 2014 S.O.S. 12-55931

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