Local News in Brief : Officer Loses Round in Bias Lawsuit

Don Jackson, the Hawthorne police sergeant who has crusaded against alleged racism in Southern California police departments, has lost the first round in his discrimination lawsuit against his own police department.

Judge William Willett issued a preliminary ruling in Torrance Superior Court dismissing Jackson’s suit, which alleges that the department and seven employees discriminated against him because he is black.

Willett sustained the city’s arguments that Jackson must first exhaust administrative remedies with the city. However, Jackson has 45 days from the ruling to amend the lawsuit, which could then be reinstated by the judge.

Jackson claims that his five years on active duty with the Hawthorne Police Department were marred by “a never-ending stream of racial epithets, taunts and slurs” that peaked when he was promoted to sergeant in December, 1986.

Jackson, 30, has been on stress disability leave for nearly two years since he accused fellow police officers of racism. His request for a disability retirement due to stress has been denied by the city.