Former LASD psychologist wins $2.67 million in retaliation lawsuit

A jury has awarded $2.67 million to a former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department psychologist who claimed that she suffered backlash for complaining about alleged disparate treatment that included leaving a dead rat in her work parking space and a deceased rabbit in her driveway.

Christine Jones’ Los Angeles Superior Court complaint alleged retaliation and gender discrimination. The jury reached its verdict late Monday afternoon in the courtroom of Judge Maurice Leiter.

Jones was hired by the county in May 2007 and is one of a select group of people nationwide with a deep expertise in police psychology, according to her suit. Until April 2020, she was employed in the LASD’s Psychological Services Bureau, which is part of the LASD’s Personnel Command. She served for several months that year as the bureau’s acting director and prior to that was the assistant director, in which she was responsible for clinical and administrative supervision of sworn and civilian staff as well as 24-hour, on-call responses for critical incidents and other high-profile events, the suit stated.

In 2018, an LASD industrial/organizational consultant with close ties to then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva and other LASD executives “took initial actions, along with other male employees, to destroy the career of plaintiff and her female colleague, Dr. Jennifer Hunt,” the suit alleged.

“Ultimately, the end goal was to ensure that the PSB was dominated and controlled by male employees, particularly in supervisory roles which plaintiff held because of her impeccable experience and skill,” the suit alleged.

Inspector’s Office consultants filed 19 “frivolous and retaliatory” complaints against Jones that falsely accused her of wrongful conduct, the majority of which were closed with no finding of wrongdoing, and eight of which are apparently still pending with no investigation, according to the suit.

Jones’ complaints to management about the alleged disparate treatment were ignored, the suit stated.

In November 2019, someone left a dead rat in her work parking spot and a deceased rabbit was placed in the driveway of her home, the suit stated.

Jones went on medical leave in April 2020 because of stress and that same year she was reassigned to the coroner’s office, a move that has “destroyed and crippled” her chances of advancing within her field as a psychologist, the suit stated.

“The removal of Dr. Jones was so blatant and against county policy that Dr. Jones filed a complaint for gender discrimination that the county whitewashed and admits that it never investigated despite hiring a lawyer to conduct the investigation on behalf of the county,” the suit filed in October 2022 stated.

Jones was ultimately forced to quit after the county made no effort to protect her, her suit alleged.

However, in their court papers, county attorneys stated that an LASD commander who oversaw the PSB believed that Jones did an inadequate job and that grievances and complaints raised against her were indicative of her alleged poor management style.