City Won’t Appeal Award to Fired Officer

ANAHEIM —  Moving to close the book on a controversy that has pitted Latinos against police, the City Council voted Tuesday not to appeal a $340,000 jury award to a former police officer who was fired after reporting alleged police brutality.

After an hour of private debate, city leaders voted 5 to 0 against fighting the verdict in a lawsuit brought by Steve Nolan, 34. In a monthlong trial in March, the city claimed Nolan was fired for insubordination and other disciplinary reasons. But jurors believed the former officer’s claims that he was fired for breaking an unwritten “code of silence” among officers.

“It’s time to heal the wounds and move on,” Mayor Tom Daly said. “We feel that it would be more troublesome and costly to appeal than to move forward. It’s time to turn the page.”

The Nolan lawsuit, filed in May 1995, has been the centerpiece of protests against the city by Latino groups, who seized on Nolan’s claims as evidence that use of excessive force has been tolerated or covered up by Anaheim police for years.

But the jury did not rule on whether the 1991 and 1992 beatings alleged by Nolan occurred, as the former gang investigator reported. It awarded Nolan $180,000 for his emotional distress and $160,000 that he would have earned had he not been fired.

The lawsuit was based on a section of the state Labor Code that prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee for disclosing information about something the employee believes is illegal.

The city stipulated before the trial that Nolan had reported what he believed to be instances of excessive force. The result was limited testimony about the incidents, in which Nolan said members of the department’s gang unit beat suspected Latino gang members.

An internal Police Department investigation concluded that wrongful conduct by the officers Nolan named could not be proved, and no disciplinary action was taken.

The U.S. Department of Justice closed its investigation of the allegations in February, saying it did not find sufficient evidence to support Nolan’s claims.

Under terms of a settlement agreement between Nolan and the city, arrived at after the jury verdict, the city has agreed to pay the jury award by next Tuesday. In addition, the city will pay Nolan $160,00 for attorney’s fees and $7,772 in court costs.