Mitch Dean and Kimberly Sullivan obtained a defense verdict (10-2) in a FEHA retaliation case following an 8 day jury trial in North County San Diego, which ended on February 2, 2023. Plaintiff Matthew Lowe was a former police sergeant with the City of Carlsbad. He sued the City for retaliation and failure to prevent retaliation in violation of FEHA claiming that his participation in a deposition of a former officer was the reason he was put on a performance improvement plan and was not promoted to lieutenant. In less than an hour of deliberations, the jury found in favor of the City of Carlsbad, ultimately determining that the City’s decisions were not retaliatory, but legally justified. The case was tried before the Honorable Blaine Bowman. The case was Lowe v. City of Carlsbad, Case No. 37-2018-00040531-CU-OE-NC.
