In 2009, plaintiffs Linda Gotham and Lynn Whitey, both openly homosexual police officers with the Los Angeles Police Department, were notified about being assigned to the LAPD’s Van Nuys’ division, where they were to be supervised by Sergeant Randy Hoffmaster. Gotham and Whitey claimed that Hoffmaster previously sexually harassed them by repeatedly subjecting them to inappropriate, lewd, harassing and discriminatory comments, statements, gestures and touching. However, they claimed that despite their repeated complaints about Hoffmaster to more senior officials, nothing was done to remedy the situation and they were assigned to be under his supervision in 2010. Gotham and Whitey sued the LAPD, the city of Los Angeles, Hoffmaster, Captain Tia Morris and Chief Charlie Beck. Defense counsel noted that though the LAPD, Morris and Beck were named as defendants, they were never served and the plaintiffs only actually sued the city and Hoffmaster. Thus, Gotham and Whitey alleged that Hoffmaster’s actions constituted discrimination, retaliation and harassment. They also alleged that the city was liable for Hoffmaster’s actions, and violated the Fair Employment and Housing Act and the California Labor Code. Hoffmaster was ultimately dismissed form the suit. Thus, the matter continued against the city only. Gotham claimed that in July 2009, a captain notified her about moving her office to the first floor, in the training unit, and that she would be supervised by Hoffmaster. However, Gotham claimed that she objected to the move, noting a prior incident in which Hoffmaster repeatedly asked her several questions about whether she had ever seen a penis and then exposing his penis to her in 2000. She alleged that despite her objections, the captain moved her to the desk directly next to Hoffmaster in November or December 2009. Whitey claimed that she shared the workspace with Gotham after the move, and that their workspace was located directly across the hall from the men’s restroom. She claimed that Hoffmaster would make lewd comments and gestures as he would walk out of the bathroom and back to his desk, which could be seen and heard by Gotham, her and others in the office. She alleged that these comments and gestures included Hoffmaster grabbing his crotch and saying, “I have a chubby.” Gotham and Whitey both claimed that on a frequent and repeated basis between February 2010 and September 2010, Hoffmaster would repeatedly address, introduce and refer to them as “my two angry lesbians,” “crack wh-res” or “f–king crack wh-res,” among various other comments and gestures. They contended that as a result, they informed Hoffmaster, as well as another LAPD officer that also made discriminatory and harassing comments and gestures to Whitey, directly, that their behavior was inappropriate and demanded that they not engage in this conduct. They also contended that they reported, identified, informed and described the behavior to their superiors, but nothing was done. Specifically, Gotham and Whitey claimed that they told their captain about Hoffmaster’s language in 2010, but noted that an Internal Affairs complaint was not initiated as a result of their complaints. They claimed that, instead, it was only after 12 to 16 months of making complaints that a lieutenant at the division found out about what was going on and went to one of the captains about it. They alleged that the lieutenant was then told that if he thought a complaint should be initiated, then he should do it. Gotham and Whitey claimed that as a result, the Lieutenant initiated a complaint and supported them during the Internal Affairs investigation. Plaintiffs’ counsel noted that the results of the investigation were confidential, but that Hoffmaster retired after the investigation was concluded. In addition, Gotham and Whitey claimed that following the investigation, the lieutenant was administratively transferred to another division and told. “This is not how you make captain.” Hoffmaster denied any of the gross vulgarity, and only admitted to two phrases he used during 2010. Defense counsel denied Gotham ever reported the alleged event in 2000, and denied Gotham and Whitey told a captain about Hoffmaster’s language in 2010. Counsel contended that if the plaintiffs had told a captain about Hoffmaster’s actions, it would have been odd that the captain never filed a report or investigated the alleged claims in 2010, even though he previously worked for Internal Affairs. However, defense counsel noted that the Captain died in January 2011, before Gotham or Whitey ever told anyone else, and that there are no documents, e-mails or confirmations of any kind supporting the plaintiffs’ claim that they told their captain about Hoffmaster’s language. Counsel also contended that it was only after the captain’s death that Gotham and Whitey told a lieutenant about Hoffmaster’s language, and that the lieutenant immediately filed a complaint with Internal Affairs., Gotham and Whitey claimed that they were humiliated and embarrassed by the incidents, causing them anxiety, mental anguish and emotional distress from the hostile work environment. They also claimed they suffered losses in earnings and other employment benefits. Gotham, who was sworn in as a police officer in 1988, ultimately retired at the end of 2012.