Jury rejects gay ex-LAPD officer's discrimination lawsuit against city

A jury found today for the city of Los Angeles in a case brought by a gay woman who charged that she was fired from her position as a probationary police officer due to her sexual orientation.

A Los Angeles Superior Court panel deliberated over Shelby Feldmeier's lawsuit for two days before reaching their verdict. Jurors found that misconduct occurred, but did not find that the 31-year-old was damaged by it.

Deputy City Attorney Richard H. Loomis said that Feldmeier was fired not due to her sexual orientation but for lying to superiors, telling them that she had to take a day off to care for her then-girlfriend, who ran in the April 2004 Baker-to-Vegas relay race. Her girlfriend, a Long Beach police officer, later denied being ill that day.

"We're pleased with the verdict," Loomis said. "It's important that we know that Los Angeles police officers tell the truth so that when they are called upon to testify, we know they will have credibility."

Feldmeier's lawyer, Alan I. Schimmel, said he and co-counsel Michael Parks wondered if the panel was confused. While the jurors found that their client experienced harassment, they also found that it was not a substantial factor in any harm she suffered.

Feldmeier applied to about 10 other police departments after being fired, but only found part-time security guard work in downtown Los Angeles.

Feldmeier, 31, declined to comment on the verdict, but said she still hopes to one day become a police officer.

Feldmeier filed her lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination in January 2006.

Hired by the LAPD in July 2003, she ran into problems while still at the academy. Her Spanish instructor told her he was tired of his girlfriend and hoped his next flame would be a cop, according to Feldmeier's testimony.

Feldmeier said she also had to fend off advances from her firearms instructor, who returned after a few days absence and told her he missed her. She said she was reluctant to report the behavior at the time due to her status as a probationary police officer.

Feldmeier graduated from the LAPD academy in February 2004 and was assigned as a probationary employee to the Wilshire Station. According to her lawsuit, male officers made frequent offensive comments about homosexuality and asked if she was gay.

Feldmeier maintained in her court papers that her complaints about harassment and discrimination to then-Deputy Chief Michael Berkow were not taken seriously. Berkow said sexual orientation discrimination was not a problem in the modern LAPD and never investigated the claims, Feldmeier lawyer Schimmel said.