Charles Parkin
Long Beach
City Attorney

 A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge today dismissed the lawsuits of two Long Beach police officers who alleged that the police department carried on a campaign of retaliation against them. Superior Court Judge Michael P. Linfield granted the City Attorney’s pretrial summary judgment motion, finding that no trial was necessary since no evidence supported any of the Plaintiffs’ claims. The Judge ordered judgment for the City.

“We are pleased that the Court, after review of the motions and allegations, agreed with our position that there was no evidence to support their claims,” said Long Beach City Attorney, Charles Parkin. “This ruling at the summary judgment stage will save the City significant costs of trial.”

Officers Alberto Vargas and Pablo Orduno filed lawsuits against the City’s police department claiming that the police department discriminated against them because of their ethnicity. After filing their lawsuits, Vargas and Orduno both voluntarily dismissed the discrimination claim, and proceeded on their claim that the police department was actively retaliating against them for, among other reasons, filing the original discrimination lawsuit. 

In their amended lawsuits, Vargas and Orduno contested an order requiring them to wear a recording device for a period of time, claimed that, at various times, they reported alleged time card fraud, and maintained that the department required each officer to write a specific number of traffic tickets. The Plaintiffs’ also alleged that the department retaliated against them because they were “whistleblowers.” 

The Long Beach Police Department denied all of these allegations. Specifically, that the Department’s Internal Affairs Division investigated the Plaintiffs’ claims and found no evidence supporting any of their allegations. 

Similarly, the trial court judge examined all of Vargas and Orduno’s various allegations, and specifically found no evidence supporting any of their claims. The Court rejected each plaintiff’s contention that the police department had acted wrongfully in any regard, and entered judgment in favor of the City of Long Beach and against the officers. 

Since the City is the prevailing party in this action, California Law requires the Plaintiffs to pay a portion of the City’s costs of suit.