Gary Dordick and Carney Shegerian Win $7 Million Unanimous Verdict Against City of Baldwin Park in Gender Discrimination Lawsuit of Former Chief of Police

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, March 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- This week, Lilli Hadsell was awarded a total of $7,020,000 in damages in her gender discrimination, harassment and retaliation lawsuit against the City of Baldwin Park, where she worked as the first Baldwin Park female police chief in a unanimous verdict. Hadsell was represented by Los Angeles-based law firms Dordick Law Corporation and Shegerian & Associates.

Hadsell was hired by Baldwin Park in 1999 and employed there for nearly 14 years, until December, 2013. During the last five years of Hadsell's tenure, she acted as chief of police, working under city Chief Executive Officer Vijay Singhal as her direct supervisor.

According to the lawsuit, Hadsell was promoted to chief of police by the city council in 2008, due to her stellar work performance and her token status as a female officer.

After her promotion to police chief, Hadsell's subordinate Michael Taylor and city council member Ricardo Pacheco made comments to her subordinates that "a woman cannot do this [chief of police] job" and that she "took Mike Taylor's job." Similar comments were made throughout Hadsell's career as chief of police.

Taylor continuously referred to Hadsell as "Dear" in an effort to demean and disparage her, and was consistently insubordinate to her orders. Hadsell informed Singhal about the bullying behavior and complained to the Mayor, as well as to Taylor and Pacheco themselves.

In 2009, following an election of city council members, Hadsell removed Taylor from the chain of command. Shortly after, she received a phone call from Pacheco, during which he screamed at her, demanding that Hadsell resign and threatening to make her resign if she didn't do so herself.

In 2013, a city council seat opened up and Pacheco chose a political surrogate to run for election and take the seat. Pacheco's surrogate won, giving him the majority. On December 10, 2013, Hadsell was "dismissed without cause" by the city council. One of those involved in Hadsell's termination informed her via text message that her firing constituted retaliation.

Carney Shegerian, the founder of Shegerian & Associates, has weighed in on the lawsuit.

"The jury's verdict in favor of Hadsell is both a win for her, and for all victims of gender discrimination in the workplace," Shegerian says. "No one should have to endure demeaning and harassing behavior on the basis of their gender."

About Shegerian & Associates:
Shegerian & Associates has won clients over $300 million in employment-based disputes and maintains a 98% success rate. We have offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside and New York. 

Media Contact:
Pace Public Relations
Caroline Kropke
[email protected]

SOURCE Shegerian & Associates

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