San Marino Police Officer Alleges Discrimination, Forced Early Retirement In Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES, CA — A woman is suing the San Marino Police Department, alleging she was forced into early retirement after being sexually harassed by the police chief and others, and then retaliated against when she reported the conduct.

Candice Torres' Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges retaliation, discrimination, failure to accommodate and engage in the interactive process and failure to take all reasonable steps to prevent unlawful discrimination and retaliation. Torres seeks unspecified compensatory damages.

A representative of the San Marino City Attorney's Office did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Friday.

Torres, who was hired in February 2006, alleges Chief John Incontro and other department members sexually harassed and discriminated against her, and that she faced retaliation after protesting the alleged conduct.

Incontro made "sex/gender-based and pejorative/infantilizing" comments about Torres' use of a backpack by referring to the plaintiff as a "little girl," while the then-city manager told her that she was "looking like a girl" when she wore a dress to a work-related dinner, the suit states.

Incontro regularly used a five-letter epithet to refer to women, including the city manager at the time, the suit states. The chief also told or conveyed the message to Torres that she should be more "managerial-like" in her work, but he didn't make the same comments to male officers, according to the suit. He also lectured Torres about not having co-workers at an October 2019 party she hosted, but he didn't give such sermons to men, the suit further states.

That same month, no one from the department attended Torres' completion of the Sherman Block Leadership Institute program, although it was customary to have a department leader attend such graduations, according to the suit.

In January of 2022, Torres was responding to a car fire when she suffered injuries to her neck and back that forced her on leave. While off- duty, she was notified she was the subject of an internal affairs probe involving conduct in 2019, the suit states.

Torres contends she was ultimately forced into an early retirement by way of refusing to reasonably accommodate the plaintiff and engaging in conduct that prevented her from returning to work despite her being healthy and qualified for various positions. She contends she was stymied in her hopes of promoting within the SMPD and that the alleged backlash was related to her complaints about the harassment and discrimination she claims she suffered.

Torres has suffered losses to her reputation as well as her earnings and also has experienced mental suffering, according to her lawsuit.

City News Service