CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) – Chula Vista Police Department Chief Roxana Kennedy filed a lawsuit this week against the city and five officials, accusing the parties of trying to force her out of her job.
The suit filed on May 12 in San Diego Superior Court names the City of Chula Vista, City Manager Tiffany Allen, and city councilmembers Michael Inzunza, Cesar Fernandez, Carolina Chavez, and Jose Preciado as defendants.
Kennedy’s lawsuit alleges invasion of privacy, defamation, violation of employment laws, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She claims the defendants “secretly decided to force her out of her job in order to replace her with someone younger and of a different ethnicity.”
In the suit, Kennedy said she believes at least one of the defendant councilmembers “had been secretly vetting a younger, Latino law-enforcement official in a nearby jurisdiction to replace” her.
The suit also claimed the defendants tried “to make (Kennedy’s) working conditions so miserable that a reasonable person would deem the environment too hostile, oppressive, and toxic to remain and instead to resign in order to avoid the hostility, oppression, and toxicity.”
According to the lawsuit, Kennedy claims Allen reprimanded her on two separate occasions for an incident that occurred during a police union holiday party last December.
Kennedy’s attorney, Cory Briggs, previously told ABC 10News that the chief placed a dollar bill in the pocket of an officer who was dancing without a shirt. Briggs also said people were clapping and there were no apparent issues for the rest of that night.
However, Briggs said Kennedy was later reprimanded by the city manager, who told her that concerns had been raised about her conduct at the event.
While Kennedy has been on medical leave since Jan. 23, she claimed in the suit that during her time away the city cut off her access to her email and personnel records.
Kennedy, who has been with the Chula Vista Police Department for over 30 years, is the department’s first female chief. She has served as police chief since 2016.
In response to the lawsuit, a City of Chula Vista representative sent ABC 10News the following statement: “The City of Chula Vista categorically denies the allegations and will vigorously defend against them in court. The City is confident the truth will show that no wrongdoing occurred."
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