A 2018 lawsuit was finally settled this month as a gay police officer received nearly a quarter of a million dollars after he alleged that fellow employees of The San Francisco Police Department were discriminating against him based on his sexual orientation. On February 8, 2022, Officer Brendan Mannix proved victorious when the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco awarded him a large sum of money after three sergeants used anti-gay language such as “you gays,” “such a queen” and that they should “round up all the trannies.” The payout? Oh, just $225,000!
It’s not all happy rainbows and butterflies for the young man as two of the sergeants are still employed by The San Franscico PD. What’s more disturbing, though, is that the sergeants in question are noted to have purposely denied him back-up during potentially dangerous situations. This could have resulted in injury or death, especially in a climate that’s seeing increased hostility towards police officers. Gay Times UK also notes that Mannix was given the most undesirable cases in an effort to push him out.
A spokeswoman for the attorney’s office tells Mission Local, “Given the inherent costs of continued litigation, we believe the proposed settlement is an appropriate resolution. There is no admission of liability on the part of SFPD or the city.”
With San Francisco PD failing to acknowledge their wrong-doings, I sincerely hope that Officer Mannix is able to switch to another police force that can include him based solely on his merit as a hard worker. He’s still employed with the SFPD and it’s unclear whether he’ll suffer any retaliation. If he needs a break while re-evaluating his career choices, I think he’ll have some money to hold him over until decisions are made!
Source: LGBTI News, Q Voice News, Gay Times UK, New Now Next
I’m glad this gay man got some justice. You would think in California things like this wouldn’t happen to gay people, shows how much we still have to fight.