SF Sheriff’s Department to Pay Over $1 Million for Hostile Work Environment

A jury has awarded more than $1 million to two clerks in the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department after the office failed to properly investigate claims that white employees subjected them to a hostile work environment.

Plaintiffs Danielle Dillard and Kim Lee sued their employers at the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office in 2020 for violating the Fair Employment and Housing Act. The four-week trial ended this month. On Nov. 15, the jury sided with the plaintiffs on claims that they were targeted by white employees and forced to endure racial harassment.

“It’s such a great victory that this jury saw right through the city’s pretexts and saw the insidious racism that is at different offices throughout the city, but specifically in this case at the sheriff’s office,” said Angela Alioto, lead trial counsel for the case. “The hatred that is racism has no place in San Francisco.”

Dillard and Lee, who are both Black, process warrants for crime suspects at the sheriff’s office. The two spoke out about their experience and the verdict in their favor at a press conference on Monday.

“My family was accused of being gang members,” Dillard told reporters at a Monday press conference. “It was overwhelming.”

In their lawsuit, the women claimed they were repeatedly subject to explicitly racist language and other workplace discrimination and that they faced retaliation, including threats she could lose her job after complaining about officers who were perpetuating harmful behavior.

That included an incident where a supervisor named Sgt. Phyllis Washington referred to Dillard as a “monkey.” Attorneys representing the plaintiffs also said a noose was once presented in the workplace.

Dillard, who was also a union shop steward, reported her and other union members’ experience with racial discrimination at work. The department responded by issuing Dillard a cease-and-desist order to no longer communicate with employees in her unit, legal documents show.

Lee was accused of trying to steal information and said she experienced retaliation for seeking time off. A supervisor also called her a monkey, and a boss threatened to suspend her for raising concerns about the work environment. She was issued a cease-and-desist order as well.

“They called me a thief, a liar and a criminal. It really hurt,” Lee said. “I had endured so much before, and I just continued to sweep it underneath the rug.”

Lee said she was also asked to change her physical appearance, including her hairstyle.

“It was excruciating for me because I had to shave my head,” Lee said at a press conference on Monday. “They didn’t want me to color my hair, which I had been coloring for over 20 years. It was very emotional for me.”

The jury unanimously agreed to provide the plaintiffs $1,139,400, with $523,400 going to Dillard and $616,000 for Lee. Both women remain working in the department.

In a joint statement with the city attorney, the Sheriff’s Department said it is committed to addressing harassing behavior.

“As one of the most diverse sheriff’s departments in the nation that values equity and inclusion, any form of harassment or discriminatory behavior is antithetical to our values,” the statement reads. “We are surprised and disappointed by the outcome of this case and will be working with the City Attorney’s Office to evaluate any next steps.”

Alioto, the former San Francisco supervisor and civil rights attorney who represented the plaintiffs, said she intends to take up similar cases in other city departments.

“This is a wake-up call. The floodgates are open,” she said at the press conference on Monday. “Black people are treated so badly in each and every city department. Underpaid, less shift changes, less overtime, less sick time, for the same job just because you’re Black.

After the verdict, Lee said, “I’m happy I can move on. I can build myself back up, and I know I don’t ever have to be silenced on any job nowhere else.”

KQED reporters Ezra David Romero and Juan Carlos Lara contributed to this story.