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Burbank Leader , CA
April 6 2012
Karagiosian trail: Jury sides with officer, awards $150K
Winning attorney calls city defense 'a horrible use of the taxpayers' money.'
April 06, 2012|By Maria Hsin, [email protected]
A jury on Thursday awarded an Armenian American police detective
$150,000 for claims that he faced on-the-job discrimination and
harassment because of his ethnicity, his attorney said.
The detective who filed the lawsuit, Steve Karagiosian, testified in
Los Angeles County Superior Court that detectives and sergeants in the
Police Department regularly used derogatory terms - such as `towel
heads' - in referring to Armenians.
The decision comes two weeks after a jury awarded former Burbank
Police Deputy Chief William Taylor nearly $1.3 million based on claims
that he was fired in retaliation for refusing to sign off on the
terminations of minority officers, and for raising concerns about how
a sexual harassment incident was being handled.
`The Burbank Police Department has been proven to have ethnic
harassment within its department,' said Karagiosian's attorney,
Solomon Gresen, after the jury's verdict was announced. `Det.
Karagiosian had complained for years, and the jury's verdict should
demonstrate to the city that this is a problem that needs to be
immediately addressed.'
Named `Officer of the Year' in 2007, Karagiosian is still employed
with the department.
Even with the jury coming down on his side, Gresen said his client
feared the verdict would create a whole new set of problems back at
the department.
`Mr. Karagiosian is gratified that the jury found in his favor, but
fears retaliation from the city attorney's office and the Burbank
Police Department,' Gresen said.
While the jury must still make determinations on more specific
questions, Burbank City Atty. Amy Albano said the city was
disappointed with the verdict.
`What was interesting in the verdict is that the amount awarded was
reduced,' Albano said, noting that the amount was lower than the
suggested $225,000 because the jury felt Karagiosian could have
avoided some of the damages because some of the incidents were not
reported to the city.
`The city takes issues of harassment very seriously,' Albano said.
`When we are informed, we take appropriate action. That was done in
this case. If not informed about an issue of harassment, the city is
not able to take an action.'
Jurors deliberated Karagiosian's case for about a day before
delivering its verdict.
http://articles.burbankleader.com/2012-04-06/news/tn-blr-0407-jury-sides-with-officer_1_jury-sides-verdict-solomon-gresen
April 6 2012
Karagiosian trail: Jury sides with officer, awards $150K
Winning attorney calls city defense 'a horrible use of the taxpayers' money.'
April 06, 2012|By Maria Hsin, [email protected]
A jury on Thursday awarded an Armenian American police detective
$150,000 for claims that he faced on-the-job discrimination and
harassment because of his ethnicity, his attorney said.
The detective who filed the lawsuit, Steve Karagiosian, testified in
Los Angeles County Superior Court that detectives and sergeants in the
Police Department regularly used derogatory terms - such as `towel
heads' - in referring to Armenians.
The decision comes two weeks after a jury awarded former Burbank
Police Deputy Chief William Taylor nearly $1.3 million based on claims
that he was fired in retaliation for refusing to sign off on the
terminations of minority officers, and for raising concerns about how
a sexual harassment incident was being handled.
`The Burbank Police Department has been proven to have ethnic
harassment within its department,' said Karagiosian's attorney,
Solomon Gresen, after the jury's verdict was announced. `Det.
Karagiosian had complained for years, and the jury's verdict should
demonstrate to the city that this is a problem that needs to be
immediately addressed.'
Named `Officer of the Year' in 2007, Karagiosian is still employed
with the department.
Even with the jury coming down on his side, Gresen said his client
feared the verdict would create a whole new set of problems back at
the department.
`Mr. Karagiosian is gratified that the jury found in his favor, but
fears retaliation from the city attorney's office and the Burbank
Police Department,' Gresen said.
While the jury must still make determinations on more specific
questions, Burbank City Atty. Amy Albano said the city was
disappointed with the verdict.
`What was interesting in the verdict is that the amount awarded was
reduced,' Albano said, noting that the amount was lower than the
suggested $225,000 because the jury felt Karagiosian could have
avoided some of the damages because some of the incidents were not
reported to the city.
`The city takes issues of harassment very seriously,' Albano said.
`When we are informed, we take appropriate action. That was done in
this case. If not informed about an issue of harassment, the city is
not able to take an action.'
Jurors deliberated Karagiosian's case for about a day before
delivering its verdict.
http://articles.burbankleader.com/2012-04-06/news/tn-blr-0407-jury-sides-with-officer_1_jury-sides-verdict-solomon-gresen