Reprimanded Santa Ana City Worker Gets $30,000 Judgment

A federal jury awarded a city librarian a $30,000 judgment Thursday, eight months after a judge ruled that she was unfairly reprimanded for speaking out against her supervisor at a 1990 City Council meeting.

Barbara Lambert, 56, had accused the supervisor, Robert Richard, of mismanaging the Library Department and creating an atmosphere of intimidation. Soon after her comments, Richard reprimanded Lambert in a letter for “insubordinate action” and failure to use proper channels to lodge a complaint.

Lambert demanded an apology, and when the city refused, she filed the federal court lawsuit.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert M. Takasugi ruled in her favor, saying her right to free speech had been violated.

Thursday’s judgment in a Los Angeles federal court left Lambert, who now works in the city’s Public Works department, feeling vindicated. According to the jury’s decision, the city must pay $10,000 and Richard is personally liable for $20,000. Lambert’s attorney fees could cost the city much more.

“It think it was great,” Lambert said. “It showed the city that what they did was way out of line. They didn’t have the right to do that.”

But the city maintains that Richard had a right to send the letter, and plans to file an appeal in the case.

“We always thought that Mr. Richard had First Amendment rights, too,” said Edward Wheeler, the city attorney. “It was simply a memo. There was no loss of pay, nor was she discharged.”