Former Police Lieutenant With Gardena PD,Suing For Getting Fired Due to HIV and Being Gay
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| Photo: Queerty |
A former lieutenant with the Gardena Police Department has filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming he was discriminated against and fired in 2019 because he is gay and had HIV.
Former Lt. Steven Prendergast filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday, May 8. Prendergast had been an officer with the Department since 1995 and acted as the Department’s spokesman before he was fired.
The lawsuit alleges Prendergast was falsely accused of inappropriately touching two fellow officers during a trip to Washington D.C. for National Police Week.
In addition, the suit claims sexual orientation discrimination, disability discrimination, medical discrimination and failure to prevent discrimination.
He is seeking unspecified damages.
Neither the city, nor the police department, has been served with the lawsuit, officials said in a statement.
“It is the City’s consistent practice not to comment on lawsuits that have not been served,” the statement said.” The City does however strictly enforce its equal employment guidelines, including prohibitions on workplace harassment, against and for the protection of all ranks of its employees, from entry level positions to top level managers. The City will respond in court at the appropriate time.”
Prendergast, who was hired to the force in 1995, received regular promotions for his work with the Department, the lawsuit said.
Prendergast is gay and has been married to his husband since 2018, the suit said, adding that while he was with the department, he was subjected to homophobic comments from some of his colleagues.
The former lieutenant also alleged he was denied access to the medical care of his choice because of his HIV diagnosis, the suit said.
The inappropriate touching allegations came about after Prendergast and other officers went to National Police Week in May 2019 to celebrate the life of a fallen Gardena police officer.
However, Prendergast denied those allegations and said there were no witnesses to the purported act, adding that heterosexual officers that had admitted to acts of battery against fellow officers were not terminated for their actions, the suit said.
“Instead, because Lt. Prendergast is homosexual and has been diagnosed with HIV, the City wrongfully terminated his employment,” the complaint said, adding that a subsequent internal investigation conducted by Police Chief Michael Saffell “was a farce that was intended solely to give the City the pretextual reason to terminate Lt. Prendergast.”
The complaint did not state specifically when Prendergast was fired or if the allegations related to the Washington D.C. trip directly led to his termination.
Attorneys representing Prendergast did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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