Some good news in the Union-Tribune this morning: San Diego’s City Council has voted unanimously to appeal the verdict in the case of the four firefighters who sued over a brief ride in an all but hermetically-sealed fire engine during the 2007 Pride Parade.
City will appeal award to firefighters over parade
2:00 a.m. March 25, 2009DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO: The city is appealing a jury’s decision to award $34,300 to four firefighters who sued the city for sexual harassment after they were ordered to ride a fire engine in the 2007 gay pride parade.
The City Council voted 7-0 in a closed session Monday to appeal. Councilman Tony Young was absent. The vote wasn’t made public until yesterday.
A Superior Court jury deliberated for 2½ days last month and found that some parade participants and spectators sexually harassed the firefighters.
The firefighters’ anti-GLBT attorney, Charles LiMandri argued that the four, “brave, Christian firefighters” were the targets of sexually suggestive taunts, had endured catcalls when they looked away from the crowd, and had witnessed barely-clothed men performing simulated sex acts during their 90 minute ride, six feet off the ground, encased in steel, with the windows rolled up, the engine rumbling, the fire department dispatch radio crackling, their iPods blaring, and no parade spectator or participant within ten feet of the vehicle.
That horrendous experience left the firefighters with headaches, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, other stress-related disorders, and the possibility of a multi-million dollar payoff.
Background on this travesty:
- San Diego Pride ‘on trial,’ part 3
- San Diego: Show your support
- San Diego’s top cop likes Pride
- San Diego Pride ‘on trial,’ part 2
- San Diego Pride ‘on trial,’ part I
- SD Pride lawsuit: round 2 begins
- Pride too hot for SD firemen
Edwin Decker, writing for CityBeat, provides a hilarious round-up in his piece, Of brave hearts and irritable bowels.
