Burbank, man reach settlement in gender discrimination lawsuit

City officials agreed to stop challenging a jury’s verdict in favor of a man who sued Burbank for gender discrimination after he was passed over for a job as a police dispatcher, according to a settlement agreement finalized last week.

Michael Naylor — who served in the U.S. Air Force from 1984 to 2000 before he was injured and discharged — sued the city in 2014 after he applied, interviewed and tested for a communications operator position with the city, but was passed over for the job in favor of a woman whose previous work experience was “the lunch rush at In-N-Out,” according to his attorney Leonard Tavera.

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All of the city’s current dispatchers are women, and according to Tavera, the city hasn’t hired a man in that position since 1998.

In July 2013, after interviewing and testing for the dispatcher job, Naylor was told by city officials in an email that he was the No. 1 candidate. After another interview, during which he was asked if he’d have a problem working with difficult women, he was told he’d been bumped to No. 3.

Naylor said he later learned that neither of the two women who were bumped ahead of him ended up passing their background investigations.

According to court records, officials said they passed on Naylor because he became argumentative and upset when he was told of his new ranking. Naylor, however, said this never happened.

While a jury found that Naylor was discriminated against because of his gender, on his age discrimination claim, it sided with the city.

According to the settlement, the city agreed to pay $240,000 and throw out two motions that were pending. Officials had asked a judge to overrule the verdict and had also requested a new trial. The settlement is less than the total judgment of $281,591, which included damages, interest and attorney’s fees.

Senior Assistant City Atty. Charmaine Jackson said the settlement, in which the city denies wrongdoing, allows both sides to avoid a lengthy appeal process and further litigation costs.

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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek