Jury Awards Former Southern California Police Dispatcher $315K

July 8, 2015

A police dispatcher in Southern California who alleges she was fired for reporting an officer accused of raping and sexually assaulting other dispatchers has been awarded more than $315,000.

The Sun reported a jury’s verdict was decided in favor of Jolee Berdnik, former Fontana Unified School District, late last week following a month-long trial.

In her 2012 lawsuit, Berdnik claimed she was let go in retaliation for reporting officer John Garcia’s alleged conduct to her superiors.

hit with lawsuitBernik’s attorney, Brian Hannemann, also represents three other current and former employees of Fontana Unified’s police division for claims that Garcia sexually assaulted or raped them on school grounds in 2010 and 2011.

Garcia was fired following an investigation into the allegations, but he never faced criminal charges. His attorney couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.

Topics California Law Enforcement

Was this article valuable?

Here are more articles you may enjoy.