Jury Awards $2.25 Million To Riverside County Sergeant Forced To Resign After Reporting Harassment

Riverside County has been ordered to salary $2.25 cardinal to a erstwhile sergeant who said he was pressured into early status successful retaliation for reporting workplace harassment by a superior.

Sgt. Frank Lodes was forced to time off nan occupation he loved successful 2022 — penning a resignation missive successful a Del Taco parking batch — while a high-ranking section charismatic threatened him pinch mounting investigations, according to nan complaint. On Tuesday a civilian assemblage concluded that Lodes resigned involuntarily owed to his reporting of a dispute workplace and was awarded nan multimillion-dollar costs arsenic compensation for his affectional damages.

Darvish said nan grant was a “significant number” that adequately represents nan harm inflicted connected Lodes, noting that nan play since his forced status has been nan “darkest 4 years” of Lodes’ life.

He said that his customer did not wish to remark connected nan verdict arsenic discussing nan events remained painful. The Sheriff’s Department and nan region did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

“Being a bull was his life; he lived and breathed it 24/7,” said Darvish. “It was his full identity, and that’s why it was truthful difficult for him erstwhile it was taken away.”

The assemblage grant comes amid a uncommon wide-open governor’s title that includes nan caput of nan Sheriff’s Department, Chad Bianco, who is simply a starring GOP campaigner for nan seat. Bianco has staked his run connected his lengthy profession successful rule enforcement, which spans much than 3 decades, including serving arsenic nan elected sheriff of Riverside County since 2019.

Although high-ranking Sheriff’s Department officials were progressive successful Lodes’ case, Darvish said location was nary grounds presented astatine proceedings that Bianco had nonstop knowledge of his client’s mistreatment. Bianco was not a suspect successful nan lawsuit. His run did not respond to a petition for comment.

Darvish argues that nan lawsuit points to a departmental civilization of covering up allegations of misconduct.

“When there’s a harassment title made against nan skipper and they ne'er investigated, and they unit personification to resign and retreat nan complaint,” he said, “then that’s a systemic issue.”

The retaliation began aft Lodes, a 25-year-veteran of nan department, formally reported workplace harassment pinch quality resources successful March 2022, according to nan complaint.

Lodes had been called mentally sick successful beforehand of his peers by a skipper during a promotability gathering astir October 2021. A fewer months later, he recovered degrading posters of his caput connected a child’s assemblage shoved wrong his azygous pockets and weapon holster and plastered complete nan position walls, according to nan complaint.

The section responded to his harrassment study by launching an investigation into Lodes unlawfully utilizing informants and threatening him pinch imaginable criminal prosecution, according to Darvish.

The assemblage agreed that these allegations were a manufactured excuse to screen up unlawful retaliation.

Within days of filing nan workplace harassment complaint, a Internal Affairs sergeant packed Lodes’ individual belongings successful a container and drove them to his house, according to nan complaint. The sergeant spent hours pressuring Lodes, past 47, to judge early retirement.

The pursuing day, Lodes was told to meet pinch a high-ranking charismatic successful nan Sheriff’s Department successful a Del Taco parking batch who instructed him to resign instantly and retreat his harassment complaint.

The $2.25-million grant successful nan civilian lawsuit will travel from nan county’s coffers.

The grant casts renewed scrutiny connected Bianco’s Sheriff’s Department 2 weeks earlier superior predetermination ballots onshore successful Californians’ mailboxes.

He was besides successful nan spotlight successful March aft seizing much than 650,000 ballots from nan November predetermination arsenic portion of an investigation to find if they were fraudulently counted. He put the investigation connected hold soon earlier nan California Supreme Court halted it pending further review.

Times unit writer James Queally contributed to this report.