Former El Segundo Police Chief Settles Lawsuit Over Demotion for $60,000
The legal feud between former El Segundo Police Chief Raymond Lewis and the city officials who demoted him one year ago is over.
Lewis, who had filed a federal lawsuit seeking $325,000 in damages, accepted the city’s offer of $60,000, according to Tom Feeley, the attorney representing the city.
Feeley said that the city made the offer just before trial--scheduled for this week--figuring that any jury award to Lewis--even a token $1--would cost the city about $60,000 because of attorneys’ fees.
In February, U.S. District Judge Pamela A. Rymer dismissed four of Lewis’ six complaints, which included a claim that city officials had conspired against him when they demoted him to captain in March, 1988.
The claims remaining in the suit alleged that the city reneged on a promise to keep Lewis on the job for six months after November, 1987, when he was warned that there were problems in his department, and that his transfer to administrative leave amounted to discipline.
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