Jury Begins Hearing Arguments in Retaliation Lawsuit Against Monrovia Fire Department

Attorneys delivered opening statements Tuesday in a civil trial that will determine if the Monrovia Fire Department illegally retaliated against a former female employee after she filed a gender discrimination complaint three years ago.

The lawsuit brought by former Deputy Fire Marshall Alice Robin alleges that managers in city hall and the fire department repeatedly retaliated against her after she filed a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission in 2007 alleging that she was discriminated against for being a woman.

Arguing before U.S. District Court Judge Patrick J. Walsh in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, Robin's defense attorney, Leo Terrell, told a jury of four men and four women that his client was repeatedly reprimanded and ultimately forced to resign after she complained to the EEOC in 2007. 

Robin claimed in the complaint that she was the only woman in the department who did not receive the maximum pension benefits.

"Three months after she filed that EEOC charge, ladies and gentlemen, the evidence will show the first act of retaliation took place," Terrell said.

Terrell said Robin had a spotless performance record for years, but soon began receiving reprimands from her superiors after complaining about the alleged discrimination.

Robin later had her salary frozen in 2008 and was offered a less lucrative "golden handshake" retirement plan than other employees were offered, Terrell said. She was also asked to sign a waiver as part of that agreement giving up her right to sue the city, a request not made of other employees, he said.

"Within 24 hours after Robin refused to sign that document, the city of Monrovia cut her position in half," Terrell said.

Robin left the department in 2009 after the city cut her hours in half, converting the deputy fire marshall position to part-time.

Tim Owen, an attorney for the city, insisted that Robin was not eligible for the maximum pension because her position as a deputy fire marshall did not qualify her as a "public safety employee."

To qualify as a public safety employee, a city worker must work a job where "you can get killed, you can get hurt badly"--such as a police officer or firefighter. But Robin's duties did not include high-risk actions and were limited to safety inspections, Owen said.

Owen said that Robin was reprimanded because her performance began to suffer in 2007 when she discovered she would not be eligible for the maximum pension. He said she joined the department late in life to take advantage of the public employee pension benefits.

"This is not a case about discrimination, this is not a case about retaliation, this is a case about retirement plans," Owen said. "The evidence is going to show you that she went to the city at 48-years-of-age in order to take advantage of what is one of the more attractive features of public employment: public retirement."

As to Robin's job being cut in half, Owen blamed the economy. The city cut many jobs in 2009 to close a $2.6 million budget gap, and Robin's was merely one of them, he said.

"Alice Robin's position was reduced to half time not because the city was out to get her," Owen said. "It was the economy, that's what it was."

Terrell told the jury that he would put Robin on the stand to testify about her allegations. Theresa St. Peter, the head of the city's human resources department, took the stand late Thursday.

Testimony is expected to resume Friday morning.