A veteran police lieutenant is getting a payout after being wrongly demoted.
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Lt. Raymond Garvin, the formal head of the Bomb Detection Canine Section, was given a $700,000 payout that was approved by Los Angeles officials in September. Garvin had reported misconduct in the unit which resulted in him being demoted, per The Los Angeles Times.
The publication reviewed a confidential legal analysis that revealed Deputy City Atty. Marianne Fratianne advised the city to pay the settlement in the lawsuit filed by Garvin because the facts, “simply do not bode well for the City.”
Gavin’s supervisor, Assistant Chief Horace Frank, a high-ranking LAPD commander and Capt. Kathryn Meek, his direct supervisor had, “commiserated about how there was an insufficient factual basis” to remove his from his position so they created “an ad hoc paper trail of poor performance.”
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According to Fratianne, it was in the city’s best interest to settle because it would “likely be held liable for either (or both) of their wrongdoing” and his removal “had anything to do with his ability or job performance,” she wrote in the analysis.
Back in 2017, Garvin reported an incident that occurred at Los Angeles International Airport involving a dog handler who sabotaged another handler by purposefully confusing his peer’s dog during a Federal bomb-sniffing certification test. He also reported that he thought an inappropriate relationship was happening between Meek and a canine handler and he was concerned his supervisor may show bias.
After Garvin reported the LAX incident, baseless complaints suggested he had created a “hostile work environment” and that he said “several inappropriate, offensive, and racially charged remarks,” to his team.
Still Frank and Meek refused to reinstate his role after it came back the claims were exaggerated. Gavin ultimately sued.
“This is a guy who had not a stain on his record. Perfect record,” said Kevin Salute, Gavin’s attorney. “And then he basically gets pushed out of this coveted position based on false allegations. I thought [the city] got off damn cheap.”
Garvin is now retired.
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