Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Chula Vista Fire Department heads back to court
Firefighter says he was passed over because of his work with the union
Two months after settling a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former deputy fire chief for $2.1 million, attorneys for the city of Chula Vista are preparing for another trial in an unrelated discrimination case filed by another city firefighter.
On August 28, a federal lawsuit filed by firefighter and ex-president of the Chula Vista Firefighter's Association, John Hess, against the city. Hess claims then fire chief Dave Hanneman, with help from then city manager Jim Sandoval, denied giving Hess a promotion due to safety concerns and complaints he had made against the department while serving as the department's union head. Hanneman and Sandoval, according the the complaint, went so far as to remove Hess's name from the promotion list altogether in order to ensure no promotion was handed out.
Hess' lawsuit and pending trial is not the only discrimination lawsuit that has been filed against the department in recent years.
In 2013 then fire captain Rudy Diaz sued the city over what Diaz claimed was improper scoring on a written test he took to be eligible for a promotion to chief. A trial court judge, later affirmed by the state appellate court, however, found that Diaz had failed to make a formal complaint regarding the scores within the appropriate timeframe.
More recently, in July of this year the city settled a case brought by former deputy chief James Garcia for discrimination based on Garcia's age and lack of physical mobility due to a neck and back injury.
The total settlement, including attorney's fees and loss of future wages, amounted to $2.1 million.
In fact, Garcia is scheduled to testify in Hess' case that former chief Hanneman had told him that he would not promote Hess because of his work for the union.
In April of this year, attorneys for the city sought to prohibit Hess' attorney's from making any reference to the Garcia or Diaz' lawsuits.
"...[S]uch evidence impermissibly portrays Defendant City of Chula Vista as an employer who engages in unlawful employment practices. [Hess] seeks to have the jury draw the inference that if other individuals claimed to have suffered retaliation or discrimination or other unlawful employment related actions, [then Hess] must also have suffered an unlawful employment related action committed by [the city]."
Federal Court judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo denied the city's motion, allowing jurors to hear of previous cases within the department and hear Garcia's potentially damning testimony.
The trial will begin on Monday, August 28 at 8:45 AM in Courtroom 4-C.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Chula Vista Fire Department heads back to court
Firefighter says he was passed over because of his work with the union
Chula Vista Fire Department heads back to court
Firefighter says he was passed over because of his work with the union
Two months after settling a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former deputy fire chief for $2.1 million, attorneys for the city of Chula Vista are preparing for another trial in an unrelated discrimination case filed by another city firefighter.
On August 28, a federal lawsuit filed by firefighter and ex-president of the Chula Vista Firefighter's Association, John Hess, against the city. Hess claims then fire chief Dave Hanneman, with help from then city manager Jim Sandoval, denied giving Hess a promotion due to safety concerns and complaints he had made against the department while serving as the department's union head. Hanneman and Sandoval, according the the complaint, went so far as to remove Hess's name from the promotion list altogether in order to ensure no promotion was handed out.
Hess' lawsuit and pending trial is not the only discrimination lawsuit that has been filed against the department in recent years.
In 2013 then fire captain Rudy Diaz sued the city over what Diaz claimed was improper scoring on a written test he took to be eligible for a promotion to chief. A trial court judge, later affirmed by the state appellate court, however, found that Diaz had failed to make a formal complaint regarding the scores within the appropriate timeframe.
More recently, in July of this year the city settled a case brought by former deputy chief James Garcia for discrimination based on Garcia's age and lack of physical mobility due to a neck and back injury.
The total settlement, including attorney's fees and loss of future wages, amounted to $2.1 million.
In fact, Garcia is scheduled to testify in Hess' case that former chief Hanneman had told him that he would not promote Hess because of his work for the union.
In April of this year, attorneys for the city sought to prohibit Hess' attorney's from making any reference to the Garcia or Diaz' lawsuits.
"...[S]uch evidence impermissibly portrays Defendant City of Chula Vista as an employer who engages in unlawful employment practices. [Hess] seeks to have the jury draw the inference that if other individuals claimed to have suffered retaliation or discrimination or other unlawful employment related actions, [then Hess] must also have suffered an unlawful employment related action committed by [the city]."
Federal Court judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo denied the city's motion, allowing jurors to hear of previous cases within the department and hear Garcia's potentially damning testimony.
The trial will begin on Monday, August 28 at 8:45 AM in Courtroom 4-C.
Comments