LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A judge has conditionally awarded a new trial on some of the $10.1 million in damages won in March by a retired Los Angeles police captain in her discrimination/retaliation suit against the city.
Former Capt. Stacey Vince was granted $9 million in past and future emotional distress damages by a jury on March 17, which Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Christopher K. Lui found Tuesday was excessive and the "product of passion or prejudice."
The judge said that the city is entitled to a new trial on those damages unless Vince agrees within 30 days to have them reduced to $4.5 million. The city and the judge did not challenge the award to Vince of $1.1 million in past and future economic losses.
Vince was a lieutenant in the detective bureau when a new deputy chief, Kris Pitcher, became her direct supervisor in 2019 and eventually began shunning her, her suit filed in October 2020 stated.
Vince's husband, LAPD Lt. Lou Vince had previously worked under Pitcher at Operations Valley Bureau and suffered retaliation and discrimination on account of a physical disability, Lou Vince alleged in his lawsuit.
When Lou Vince complained, the LAPD command staff threatened him that his wife's career would be adversely affected, his suit stated. Stacey Vince reported the retaliation against her husband, including the allegations against Pitcher, according to her suit.
In 2022, another jury heard trial of Lou Vince's claims and awarded him $4.37 million for his retaliation and discrimination claims.
In addition to reporting and opposing the department's alleged discrimination and retaliation against her husband, Stacey Vince was a witness in an Internal Affairs proceeding concerning her husband's claims, according to her court papers. She also complained about what she believed to be disparate treatment of her while was she was assigned to the detective bureau, her court papers stated.
"As a result of her protected activity, plaintiff was retaliated against in multiple ways, including ... being administratively transferred out of the detective bureau against her will," Stacey Vince's court papers stated.
Stacey Vince's discrimination claim was based upon her association with her husband and his disability claims, according to her court papers.
"(Stacey Vince) had pride in her career being a good police officer and excelling at her job, but that was taken away from her by the Department through its covert, reprehensible retaliation and discrimination, all because she and her husband had the audacity to report retaliation as she was trained to do," Stacey Vince's attorneys stated in their court papers.
Stacey Vince, who was promoted to captain in November, says she chose to retire rather than accept a transfer to a less prestigious position. She also is seeking $1.2 million in attorneys' fees and $11,710 in related costs. A hearing on those requests is scheduled Oct. 12.
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