A tentative settlement has been reached in what remained of a lawsuit brought by a former Baldwin Park Unified School District police chief who alleged she was subjected to disparate treatment after disclosing in 2015 that she is gay.
Plaintiff Jill Poe was terminated in 2021 when the district disbanded its police department. Her attorneys filed court papers on Nov. 6 notifying Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert B. Broadbelt of the "conditional" accord along with the expectation that a request for dismissal will be filed by Dec. 29. No terms were divulged.
Poe maintained that after she acknowledged being gay in 2015, board member Santos Hernandez Jr. publicly commented during board meetings and in other public settings that "a child needs a mother and a father," remarks the plaintiff found offensive, according to Poe's attorneys' court papers.
Earlier this year, Broadbelt dismissed Poe's defamation claims against Superintendent Froilan Mendoza and board members Hernandez and Deanna Robles. The judge did find that Poe could proceed to trial against the district on various allegations against the district, including harassment, discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Poe did not reveal she was gay until after she became chief and believes the revelation of her sexual orientation caused her to receive disparate treatment, according to the suit.
Poe, now in her mid-50s, was hired as a district patrol officer in 2006 and was named chief in 2014, according to her court papers. In July 2019, a local blogger was given a citation by a BPUSD officer for running a stop sign, the suit stated. The blogger wrote Mendoza asking that the citation be dismissed or he would disclose Poe's alleged prior criminal history while employed elsewhere, according to the suit.
Poe was an LAPD member from 1990 until 2000, when she was fired for the "stated reason" that she had been accused of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment, Poe's attorneys stated in their court papers. In 2000, Poe pleaded no contest to charges of felony auto insurance fraud and misdemeanor filing of a false police report brought against her in connection with her reporting her car stolen, Poe's lawyers stated in their court papers.
The auto was later found at the home of Poe's brother and the plaintiff, unaware that the vehicle was there, made an insurance claim and received funds, Poe's lawyers state. Poe entered a plea deal in which she paid restitution and completed probation and community service, her no contest plea was later withdrawn and the case was dismissed, according to Poe's lawyers' court papers.
After learning of the blogger's alleged threat, Poe complained to a deputy superintendent, according to the lawsuit, which said the blogger then made the same demand via email for dismissal of the citation by Poe.
The blogger published the negative information about Poe on Sept. 4, 2019, and the plaintiff was suspended the next day, the suit stated.
In October 2019, a television news report "painted a horrible picture of Poe alleging that Poe should never had been hired," the suit stated.
The BPUSD had promised Poe it would correct the portrayal of her in the news segment, but did not do anything to respond to the reports, effectively admitting and acknowledging the statements, the suit filed in November 2019 alleged.
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