Jury Rules Out Compensation for Plaintiff in CHP Lawsuit

Two days after a federal jury exonerated the California Highway Patrol of intentionally discriminating against minority officers, the same jury found Wednesday that retired Lt. Jeff Paige should not be compensated for the retaliation he suffered after filing the lawsuit.

The jury of six women and four men took a half-day to decide not to award monetary damages to Paige, 60, although they had earlier found that he had been the victim of retaliation after he filed the class-action lawsuit against the CHP in 1994.

“We feel that this jury came to the conclusion that we have been saying all along ... that the CHP as an institution did not retaliate,” CHP spokesman Tom Marshall said.

At trial, CHP lawyers argued that state law required that all sworn officers work their way up through the ranks, which would require time for minority officers to move into supervisorial positions.

Paige, who is African American, testified that he had been stripped of two coveted assignments and removed from an executive lieutenant’s post after filing suit over his inability to achieve promotion.

Although the jury portion of the case has ended, U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall must still rule on a related claim that the CHP’s policies and practices resulted in promotions for fewer nonwhites than whites between August 1992 and January 1994.

If she finds for the plaintiffs, Marshall could order the agency to compensate minority officers for lost earnings and implement goals for promoting minorities.