LAPD

LAPD Detective Files Her Third Retaliation Suit Against City

The detective says that she was denied a promotion because of her two other lawsuits.

What to Know

  • A Los Angeles police detective who alleges she was denied an important promotion for having filed two previous lawsuits is suing the city.
  • Detective Debbie Lopez brought the latest complaint Jan. 24 in Los Angeles Superior Court, once again alleging retaliation.
  • Lopez joined the LAPD in 1987 and has had the rank of detective III since 2004, the suit states.

A Los Angeles police detective who alleges she was denied an important promotion for having filed two previous lawsuits is suing the city again.

Detective Debbie Lopez brought the latest complaint Jan. 24 in Los Angeles Superior Court, once again alleging retaliation. She seeks unspecified damages.

A representative for the City Attorney's Office could not be immediately reached for comment.

Lopez joined the LAPD in 1987 and has had the rank of detective III since 2004, the suit states. She filed her first retaliation suit in 2010, naming then-Capt. Kevin McCarthy as one of the persons who allegedly was involved in the backlash against her, the new suit states. A jury verdict in favor of Lopez was affirmed on appeal, according to her complaint.

Lopez filed a second suit in 2015, again accusing McCarthy, who had been promoted to commander, of retaliation, according to her latest complaint, which says the second lawsuit was settled in 2016.

On or about Feb. 2018, McCarthy and/or other command staff members in the detective bureau denied Lopez a position as a hate crime coordinator in the LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division in retaliation for filing her prior lawsuits, according to her newest filing.

Local

Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.

Everything you need to know about the Dodgers Opening Week at Chavez Ravine

California's commercial Dungeness crab season will end April 8 to protect whales

Lopez has suffered lost income, loss of a car to take home and damage to her reputation, according to the most recent suit, which says her chances of being promoted and to get work after she retires also have been damaged.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
Contact Us