Lawsuit

Buck Wargo GLENDALE -- Glendale Municipal Court Judge James Simpson said Monday he wasn't worried about a lawsuit by a former traffic commissioner who alleged she was fired for refusing to fix traffic tickets for his friends and colleagues. Dona Bracke, who was fired in Dec. 11, 1998 after eight years on the job, alleges wrongful termination and is seeking compensation for loss of wages, diminished earning capacity and unspecified damages for loss to her reputation.

GLENDALE ? The serving of a lawsuit against state Sen. Carol Liu?s district director at her workplace last week was nothing more than a ?bigoted publicity stunt,? the Council of American-Islamic Relations said Monday. Tahra Goraya, a former national director for the council, was served with the suit in her Glendale office. The federal lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., claims the Council of American-Islamic Relations allowed a manager to claim he was an attorney and provide bogus legal advice to the organization?

Tahra Goraya, district director for State Sen. Carol Liu, has been named in a lawsuit alleging that in her former role as national director for the Council on American Islamic Relations she oversaw a fraud scheme where dozens of clients received bogus legal help. She was reportedly served while working at the senator’s Glendale office. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of former clients who received legal aid through the council, alleges that the organization’s resident attorney, Morris Days, practiced civil rights law at the organization’s Virginia branch without a law degree.

GLENDALE — The city has filed a lawsuit against American International Group claiming the insurance company failed to cover and investigate claims stemming from a January 2005 mudslide for which the city was ordered to pay out more than $12 million to homeowners whose properties were damaged. City officials contend AIG failed to adequately investigate claims filed by the homeowners after the mudslide, forcing nine settlements and payouts of more than $12 million, according to the lawsuit.

For the second time in less than a month, a Glendale police officer has filed a lawsuit claiming on-the-job discrimination. Tyrone Hunter, who is black, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Tuesday alleging that he endured racial slurs and was unfairly taken off a top narcotics investigative assignment and put back on patrol. Hunter, who joined Glendale police in 1992, also claimed in his lawsuit that despite winning professional accolades for his work, he received unfairly negative work reviews that prevented him from advancing within the department.

GLENDALE — Attorneys representing City Hall critic Herbert Molano and other plaintiffs involved in an ongoing downtown planning lawsuit against Glendale filed a motion Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court asking a judge to eliminate a $27,600 reimbursement charge city attorneys are pursuing. The recovery effort stems from costs city attorneys say they incurred in producing and organizing an exhaustive administrative record for Molano’s original lawsuit against the city claiming that it failed to adequately address the impacts of the 2006 Downtown Specific Plan.

Nine cities, including Glendale and Pasadena, filed a lawsuit this week in an effort to force the state to make good on millions of dollars for local officials to pay down debt and other obligations left over by the dissolution of local redevelopment agencies. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Sacramento County Superior Court, comes as so-called successor agencies - made up of various stakeholders in the wind-down of redevelopment operations - wade through the arduous process of untangling assets and paying down existing debts.

CITY HALL — A female police lieutenant who says she endured years of on-the-job discrimination is the latest officer to file a lawsuit against the Glendale Police Department. Police Lt. Susan Hayn is the eighth officer known to have filed a discrimination suit this year against the Police Department. All the plaintiffs, including Hayn, are represented by Santa Monica-based attorney Carney Shegerian. Hayn, who has worked for the city since 1985, alleges years of gender discrimination and harassment by her male colleagues, according to the lawsuit.

GLENDALE— A federal judge has narrowed the scope of a lawsuit filed by five Glendale police officers who alleged discrimination and harassment due to their ethnic backgrounds. After reviewing arguments and a motion by the city to dismiss the case, U.S. District Court Judge Christina Synder on Friday dismissed at least two dozen defendants from the lawsuit because the allegations against them weren't sufficiently severe, according to federal court records. City officials hailed the ruling as indicative of the weak case against the Police Department.

The parents of a 15-year-old Crescenta Valley High School student who jumped to his death on campus last year have filed a lawsuit alleging district officials turned a “blind eye” to the bullying that they allege prompted their son to take his own life. On Feb. 10, Drew Ferraro jumped to his death from a third-story building at the school in front of other students. Not long into the ensuing investigation, a Los Angeles County coroner's official said Drew did not reference bullying in any of the “very telling” four suicide notes found on his body.