A lawsuit has been filed against The City of Fontana for its long-standing history of racial discrimination and harassment by police officers David J. Moore, Sr., and Andrew Anderson. Mr. Moore’s and Mr. Anderson’s complaint details the racial discrimination, harassment, and retaliation they suffered while serving the City of Fontana as dedicated police officers for many years.
Mr. Moore and Mr. Anderson are represented in their case against the City of Fontana by the California-wide Bohm Law Group, Inc., and its attorneys Lawrance Bohm, Bradley Mancuso, and Christina Kerner.
Regarding the case, Mr. Bohm said, “David Moore and Andrew Anderson quickly learned that derogatory racial terms and racially charged ‘jokes’ were commonplace within the Fontana police department, and complaining about it only resulted in retaliation. Both Mr. Moore and Mr. Anderson were repeatedly passed over for promotions that they deserved. Ultimately, Mr. Moore was terminated for confusion over his insurance during a difficult divorce, while Mr. Anderson was forced to medically retire while receiving treatment for anxiety caused by the environment in which he was forced to work. The racial discrimination was disclosed to Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren, who ignored the complaints, assisted in sweeping blatant racist treatment under the rug, and continued to support Mr. Moore’s termination.”
ABOUT THE CASE:
Mr. Moore’s and Mr. Anderson’s complaint alleges rampant racial discrimination throughout their entire tenure with the City of Fontana Police Department (Moore lateraled from the Los Angeles Police Department to Fontana Police on October 30, 2000, while Anderson lateraled from the Los Angeles Police Department to Fontana Police in August 2002). The two men were regularly assaulted with racial “jokes” and derogatory racial name- calling such as “niggers,” “monkeys,” “wetbacks,” and “beaners.” Mr. Moore and Mr. Anderson regularly complained of the disparate treatment, but the complaints were never addressed.
Racial discrimination permeated the promotional process within the Fontana Police Department. Both Moore and Anderson were repeatedly passed over for promotions, despite scoring high on the exams. After one particular time that Mr. Moore was passed over for a promotion to SWAT, Mr. Moore was approached by an FPD officer who said, “Why are you surprised? Don’t you know you didn’t stand a chance? It’s a known fact they will never hire Blacks, women, and Jews for SWAT.” Currently, there are no African-American officers in the position of Lieutenant and higher. Additionally, Fontana Police Department’s command staff have been almost exclusively drawn from the Special Enforcement Detail (SED). The SED is made up of 20 officers, 19 are white and only 1 is Hispanic.
In 1994, a Black man was violently murdered behind a KFC in Fontana. A member of the FPD thought it would be funny to desecrate the defenseless victim’s corpse, by placing an eaten chicken bone in his hand, as he laid opened on an autopsy table. This was not only a racist, vile act; it was also a crime that was never investigated. The family members of the victim were horrified to learn of this treatment and wondered if the FPD even took the murder of their relative serious and conducted a proper investigation
The matter was swiftly swept under the rug. Over the years, Corporal Raymond Schneiders regularly brought the racist incident to the attention of various commanders, all of which failed to investigate the matter and discipline the offender. In 2011, Cpl. Schneiders believed he would finally be able to report the racist incident to a fair and sympathetic person, African American female mayor, Acquanetta Warren. Cpl. Schneiders sent a memorandum of complaint to her directly via email, but was shocked when he heard Warren not only failed to investigate the matter, she aided in covering the matter up once again. Cpl. Schneiders eventually was labeled as a belligerent officer and forced to medically retire.
Similarly, Mr. Moore and Mr. Anderson were targeted by the Fontana Police Department for their constant complaints of racial discrimination. The Fontana Police Department used a welfare check performed by Mr. Anderson and Mr. Moore on a troubled neighbor to further retaliate. During the welfare check, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Moore responded to sounds of distress coming from the neighbor’s home. Ultimately, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Moore were forced to restrain a man reaching for a knife. The Fontana Police Department disregarded the responding Sheriff Department’s determination that Mr. Anderson and Mr. Moore had done nothing wrong and launched an “investigation” into the matter. This “investigation” resulted in false statements with crucial evidence suspiciously disappearing. Mr. Anderson and Mr. Moore were able to prove to the City Manager that the Fontana Police Department was providing false information and both were re-instated. However, the discrimination and harassment did not stop following their reinstatement.
While on suspension, Mr. Anderson was again targeted after he was a victim of an assault in his own neighborhood. The Fontana Police Department ignored the responding Sheriff Department’s determination that Mr. Anderson was a victim of a crime and charged him with “conduct unbecoming an officer.” This charge resulted in Mr. Anderson being demoted from Corporal to a Patrol Officer.
In November 2016, the Fontana Police Department, again, retaliated against Mr. Moore for continuing to complain of racial discrimination and harassment and for filing a civil suit. Mr. Moore was placed on administrative leave for leaving his wife on his employee insurance while in the process of finalizing the couples’ divorce. The Fontana Police Department ignored a court order instructing Mr. Moore to maintain his wife on his insurance until the divorce was finalized and did not allow Mr. Moore the opportunity to fix any perceived errors. Instead, on January 26, 2017, the Fontana Police Department terminated Mr. Moore.
In December 2016, Mr. Anderson took Paid Disability Leave in order to receive treatment for work-related anxiety due to the constant harassment and retaliation. The FPD should have allowed Mr. Anderson twelve months to receive treatment for his work-related injury; however, Mr. Anderson was relieved of duty with the FPD after the completion of a “Fitness for Duty” evaluation after only six months of recovery time. On or about August 5, 2017, the FPD forced Mr. Anderson to medically retire from the FPD.
Mr. Moore complained to Fontana Mayor, Acquanetta Warren, on several occasions regarding the mistreatment of minority officers and the lack of diversity within the Fontana Police Department. Mr. Moore explained the history of Fontana regarding white supremacy groups and how the history continues to influence the police department today. Despite having this knowledge, Mayor Warren never addressed the issues within the police department, instead, choosing to support the termination of Mr. Moore when appealed to the City Council.
WHAT IS GOING ON NOW
Mr. Moore appealed his termination through a fact finding arbitration and then all the way to the Fontana City Council. Mayor Warren and John Roberts voted against Mr. Moore's reinstatement. Jesse Amenderez decided to recuse himself for unknown reasons. Two council members had the courage to go against the FPD regime, Jesse Sandoval and Michael Tahan. The vote to reverse Mr. Moore’s termination ended in a tie of 2-2. The matter is still pending.
ABOUT LAWRANCE BOHM & THE BOHM LAW GROUP:
Lawrance A. Bohm is a well-known trial lawyer who is most noted for winning what is believed to be the two largest single-plaintiff employment verdicts in United States history: $185,872,719.52 in Juarez v. AutoZone Stores, Inc. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juarez_v._AutoZone_Stores,_Inc.) and $167,730,488.00 in Chopourian v. Catholic Healthcare West (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopourian_v._Catholic_Healthcare_West).
Bohm has won several other large verdicts protecting and defending civil and workplace rights. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrance_Bohm).
In 2016, the Daily Journal recognized Bohm as one of the top labor and employment lawyers in California. In 2015, The National Law Journal recognized Bohm as one of the top 50 elite trial lawyers in the country. In 2014, Bohm was named a “Super Lawyer” and became a recipient of the prestigious “Litigator Award,” given to the top 1% of lawyers. In 2013, Bohm was spotlighted in the Sacramento Business Journal's 2013 Best of the Bar special edition.
Bohm was ranked #1 on eBossWatch 2012 list of the Nation's Top Employment Lawyers. Also, in 2012, he was selected as one of the Daily Journal's Top 100 Lawyers in California. Further, in 2012, Bohm was selected by the Capital City Trial Lawyers Association as Advocate of the Year. In 2010, Bohm was selected as one of the Daily Journal's Top Labor and Employment Lawyers in California. He is also a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Please see: http://www.bohmlaw.com/