The city of Fresno is liable for $15.4 million in damages in a discrimination case brought by two former city employees.

On Wednesday afternoon, an eight-member federal jury sided with La-Kebbia “Kiki” Wilson and Charles Smith, awarding them $15 million and $400,000, respectively, for discrimination, harassment and retaliation.

Wilson, who is Black, claimed she was treated unfairly at work because of her race. Smith, who is white, testified that his supervisor in the code enforcement department, Howard Lacy, called Wilson an “entitled N—-.” When Smith told Wilson about the incident in July 2018, she had an emotional outburst in public at City Hall that involved profanity. She was disciplined for unprofessional conduct.

A subsequent investigation could not confirm Lacy’s use of the word. It did recommend that the city terminate Wilson for her outburst and unprofessional behavior in follow-up meetings with her superiors.

“We look at the huge number, but nobody looked at the huge price I paid to work at the city as a Black woman and being the only Black employee at that time. And that number still is not big enough for me because of the time I lost with my children and my family that I can never get back. My health, I can never get that back,” Wilson said.

She said she prayed during the trial for “the city to be exposed for who they are.”

“The city needs to know that there’s going to be other La-Kebbia Wilsons in the world that come through there, who will stand up for themselves, will challenge them, because I raised my kids that way, and they should know to never get comfortable. They got comfortable being comfortable. That was the problem here,” Wilson said.

Smith said “justice was done.”

“I’m going to start a rock ‘n’ roll band, tour the world, rock out,” Smith said.

Lacy still works for the city. Smith quit in 2018 for what he called a retaliatory re-assignment. The city fired Wilson in 2022, but those reasons were not discussed during the trial.

“We proved our case, and the city of Fresno never took this case seriously. They fought it for over seven years in court, and we finally had our day in court, and justice prevailed,” Kevin Schwin, attorney for Wilson and Smith, said.

Does Insurance Cover?

The city has not responded to questions about whether it has an insurance policy that may cover all or part of the verdict and how it might affect its deductible.

Mayor Jerry Dyer told GV Wire on Wednesday, “There is no question this verdict will have a significant financial impact on the city of Fresno.” His administration is currently preparing a budget that must be approved by the city council in June.

Fresno City Council Vice President Nelson Esparza said the alleged slur happened before he joined the council in 2019.

“The city remains committed to reflecting the values of our community in the workplace and ensuring that our residents and employees are treated with the utmost respect,” Esparza said.

Arias: Accept Decision

Councilmember Miguel Arias said the city should accept the jury’s verdict. In a news release, he said he would oppose any effort to appeal the decision.

“The conduct described in this case was wrong and reprehensible, and does not reflect the values of our city or the safe, respectful workplace every employee deserves,” Arias said.

Arias offered a public apology.

“Continuing to litigate would be fiscally irresponsible and the wrong decision for a city that prides itself on celebrating and protecting its rich diversity,” Arias said.

Analyst: Federal Court Should Have Been City Advantage

Schwin anticipates the city will appeal. Multiple sources with knowledge — but not able to speak publicly because of the legal matter — said the City Attorney’s Office is considering filing an appeal.

Roger Bonakdar, a Fresno attorney not involved in the case, said the city has several avenues to choose from.

Options include a motion to reduce the judgement because “the award actually reflects that these people were inflamed by passions as opposed to the evidence,” Bonakdar said.

The city could argue the award was based on punitive damages, something that is not allowed against a government entity, Bonakdar said.

Pretrial motions such as what evidence was or was not allowed could be challenged as well.

In a less likely scenario, the city could file a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict — asking for the judge to set aside the jury’s decision. Bonakdar called such action rare.

“Judges give a lot of deference to a verdict from a jury. Jury verdicts are generally sacrosanct, absent rare circumstances such as misconduct,” Bonakdar said.

Wilson and Smith filed their case originally in state court in 2019. The city moved it to federal court. The trial started last month and lasted 10 days.

Bonakdar said moving the case to federal court should have helped the city.

“You have to get a unanimous jury to win. As a plaintiff, that’s a higher burden. In state court, you only need nine out of 12 jurors to agree with you. To win in federal court you need all,” Bonakdar said.

The city’s next move will likely be discussed in closed session of the next city council meeting.

“If I were Ms. Wilson and her counsel, I wouldn’t go spending any money quite yet,” Bonakdar said.

Other Allegations: Monkey Ears on Obama Picture

Wilson and Schwin made other allegations that they could not bring up in trial. She claimed when she was laid off in 2013, it was not for economic reasons, but rather “strategic,” to get rid of her.

“(She was) the only Black employee laid off out of those eight, but last to be brought back to work, even though she was first on the reinstatement list,” Schwin said.

Wilson also claimed that a picture of Barack Obama at her desk was desecrated with monkey ears.

Gary Goyette, another attorney for the plaintiffs, said the city never took the case seriously. He recounted that a mediator told his clients to lower their expectations for a settlement. Wilson said the city did not want to settle. She said she did not have a number in mind that she would accept.

Schwin said the highest offer from the city — through City Attorney Andrew Janz last May — was $300,000 for both.

The attorneys will file a separate motion to recover fees, including the amount invested in the lawsuit by the Fresno City Employees Association — the union representing Wilson and Smith. Schwin did not have an immediate amount, but said it would be in the seven figures.