A lengthy battle between the City of Palo Alto and a handful of its police officers has finally come to a close.
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A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge last week dismissed a harassment and discrimination suit filed by six officers over a mural featuring Black Liberation Army member Assata Shakur, according to March 3 court filings.
The mural, which first went up in June 2020 after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis police custody, immediately drew the ire of officers Eric Figueroa, Michael Foley, Christopher Moore, Robert Parham, Julie Tannock and David Ferreira. The group alleged in their complaint that they were "forced to physically pass and confront the mural" whenever they entered the Palo Alto Police Department headquarters.
The mural, installed across from Palo Alto City Hall, intended to honor Floyd and depicted prominent Black figures, such as Shakur, inside each letter of the phrase "Black Lives Matter." The officers sued the city last year, claiming in their complaint that the depiction was "offensive, discriminatory and harassing iconography" and encouraged a hostile work environment.
The officers sought compensation for mental and emotional damages, among others. But Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Socrates Peter Manoukian ruled that the officers hadn't provided enough evidence to back up their claims.
"There is nothing to suggest that the mural and its iconography was created in favor of one group over another," Manoukian wrote. "Similarly, Plaintiffs do not provide any factual allegations which would suggest defendant City's refusal to address Plaintiffs' complaints about the Mural are based on Plaintiffs' race, ethnicity, or some other protected classification."
Manoukian wrote he sided with the city's argument that the officers had not have not adequately alleged any adverse employment action taken against them" which would support a discrimination claim.
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