A former West Covina police chief has reached a settlement of his age discrimination lawsuit against the city just as testimony in the trial of the case was about to begin.
Jurors in the Los Angeles Superior Court trial of the case heard opening statements in plaintiff Marc A. Taylor's case, then Judge Daniel S. Murphy and the lawyers conferred before Murphy told the panel that the case was resolved and dismissed them. No settlement terms were divulged.
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The city had previously filed a motion to dismiss the case in which defense attorneys denied Taylor's age discrimination claim. The lawyers argued that the plaintiff was terminated by then-City Manager David Carmany "in direct response to his observations of Marc Taylor's poor job performance" and after a vote of no-confidence taken by the local police union.
But in a written ruling denying the city's motion, Murphy noted that two City Council members out of the four who voted to affirm Taylor's firing had made age-based comments to the former chief and that Taylor's successor was about 10 years younger than the plaintiff.
"When interpreted liberally in (Taylor's) favor, this evidence allows a reasonable jury to find that the council members harbored discriminatory animus and effectuated (Taylor's) termination based on that animus," the judge wrote.
In the suit filed in June 2020, Taylor's lawyers maintained in their court papers that in October 2017, shortly after Taylor was installed as chief, one of the council members who eventually voted to fire him told Taylor in a meeting that he should dye his white hair to make him look younger.
During the same time period, the late Councilman Mike Spence asked Taylor why he wanted to leave the retirement he began in 2009 and come back "at his age" to be police chief, Taylor's attorneys further stated in their court papers. Taylor began his career in September 1981 as a reserve officer.
In March 2019, the City Council fired then-City Manager Chris Freeland, Taylor's immediate supervisor, who had given him a "glowing recommendation," Taylor's lawyers stated in their court papers.
Later that month, Martin Pinon, the city's human resources director, asked Taylor during a meeting how old he was, how long he planned to stay with the city and whether he could retire, Taylor's lawyers stated.
"Pinon advised Chief Taylor to develop an exit strategy related to his position and (to) `lawyer up,"' Taylor's attorneys further stated in their court papers.
Carmany fired Taylor on April 22, 2019, less than three weeks after Carmany's hiring, Taylor's lawyers state. Taylor appealed his termination to the City Council, which affirmed Carmany's decision by a 4-1 vote the next month.
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