Settlement Ends Bias Suit by LAPD Officer

The Los Angeles City Council ended years of litigation Tuesday with a veteran former Los Angeles police officer who charged sexual harassment and gender discrimination against the city’s police department and who also filed a stress-related workers’ compensation claim.

Under the settlement discussed in a closed session, the council agreed to pay Virginia Acevedo $662,500 for her discrimination claims as well as $100,000 to settle the workers’ comp claim.

The Acevedo case, which has dragged on for years, also involved the American Civil Liberties Union, which came to her aid after city attorneys sought the names of the former lovers of the lesbian police officer. As a result of the ACLU complaint, the city attorney’s office agreed to limit the scope of its questioning and to retrain employees on appropriate interview tactics.

In appearances before the council and in interviews, Acevedo has said she was subjected to racist and sexist comments by other officers and was physically abused. Speaking before the council last year, Acevedo described several instances of verbal abuse, including several slurs by one officer who “would not leave me alone.”

In a brief statement Tuesday, the city attorney’s office said only that “the settlement ends the Acevedo case.”