A judge has ruled in favor of a veteran Los Angeles police sergeant who filed a legal action against the city over her three-day suspension for alleged misconduct, including the off-duty kissing of a department employee in 2019.
On Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen I. Goorvitch granted Sgt. Darcy French's petition, which sought the overturning of a Board of Rights' decision in June 2023 upholding allegations against the sergeant that were later signed off on by then-Chief Michel Moore, who also was named in the legal action.
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According to French's attorneys' court papers, the Board of Rights panel found French guilty of the kissing allegation as well as a second count maintaining that she made "several inappropriate comments towards department employees."
The events are alleged to have occurred in 2019 during a fundraising event at a San Diego County casino. In their court papers, lawyers for the City Attorney's Office said another sergeant saw French and a gang enforcement detail officer exchange a "peck on the lips, barely" while French sat on a bench between two gang officers.
The board also recommended a three-day suspension of French, which the City Attorney's Office argued in their pleadings was a "light" penalty.
But in their court papers, French's attorneys maintain the decision against French and the suspension were not supported by the findings and/or evidence. The board also failed to recognize that the statute of limitations was violated when a supervisor aware of the alleged misconduct at the time of the acts in 2019 failed to initiate any investigative or disciplinary action, according to the petition.
Moore "failed to perform his legal duty" under the city charter, causing a deprivation of French's right to due process, the petition further alleged.
French joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1998. In February 2023, she filed a separate legal action against the city, alleging in a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that she was the target of harassment because she complained that other LAPD members had disseminated sexist images. She further maintains that her bosses tried to suspend and demote her after she came forward.
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