L.A. County sergeant demoted for ‘gossip’ after blowing whistle at Sheriff’s Department

Nearly a month after a tense hour-long hearing at the Hall of Justice to decide the fate of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sergeant accused of spreading “rumors and/or gossip,” the agency decided this week to demote the woman despite her claims she was attempting to call out misconduct.

The punishment for Rosa Gonzalez, now a deputy, came after she shared copies of a 2021 grievance she wrote alleging that department officials had discriminated against women, a person with possible autism and another whistleblower like herself.

As The Times previously reported, Gonzalez initially laid out her allegations in a 2022 lawsuit accusing department officials of transferring her to a less desirable position immediately after she filed her grievance.

Data shows demotions are not common, and her case has sparked controversy within the ranks of the department. This week Gonzalez told The Times she plans to appeal to the L.A. County Civil Service Commission.

“My actions in 2021 were made in good faith,” she said. “The investigation against me was a complete fraud based on reporting LASD management of illegal employment practices and corruption.”

She framed her case as proof of a need for more oversight of the department, and said punishing her now for three-year-old conduct is barred by statutes of limitations for police discipline.

The Sheriff’s Department did not offer any comment on this week’s decision, but previously told The Times that it investigates all allegations of misconduct and has policies in place to “protect individuals from any form of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and inappropriate conduct.”

Gonzalez also sued the department in 2015, claiming an alleged deputy gang known as the Banditos was operating out of the East L.A. sheriff’s station and had created a culture of misogyny there. She said she’d been the victim of sexual harassment and gender discrimination, and that Banditos members had withheld backup on dangerous calls.

When she filed a grievance about it, she alleged, the department retaliated by transferring her to a less-desirable station. The county denied her allegations, but in 2019 settled the case for $1 million.

In 2021 Gonzalez - by then a sergeant - was assigned to the Personnel Administration Bureau, which deals with hiring, promotions and transfers. While there, she said she noticed troubling practices.

In one instance, as she later alleged in her 2022 lawsuit, bureau leaders forced a woman to transfer because they said she was “not young.” They also allegedly hired an applicant because he was attractive and male and later refused to hire another applicant because he was “possibly autistic,” the suit says.

Gonzalez accused the bureau’s leaders of committing time card fraud, misusing donated money and conspiring to allow a rising lieutenant to cheat on a promotional exam.

In October 2021, she filed a lengthy grievance accusing the bureau’s leaders of illegal hiring practices, retaliation and several other problems. After consulting with her union representative, Gonzalez sent copies of the grievance to the alleged victims she’d mentioned in it.

Several weeks later, Gonzalez found out she was being investigated by the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau. In early 2022, she filed her lawsuit accusing the department of retaliating against her for raising concerns.

Captain Yvonne O’Brien – who was in charge of the personnel bureau at the time – previously declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Former Sgt. Carmen Arballo, who was O’Brien’s number two at the time and has since retired, pointed out that the department deemed the allegations Gonzalez raised in her grievance to be unfounded.

Earlier this year, the department sent Gonzalez a letter announcing its intent to demote her because she’d “spread rumors and/or gossip” when she shared her grievance containing “personal information” and “factors not related to unfair hiring practices.” She was accused of violating some of the same equity policies — those banned harassment based on sex, age and disabilities — that she’d originally accused her superiors of flouting.

Gonzalez pushed back, arguing her case at last month’s hearing. This week the department informed her of the outcome in a five-page letter, and Gonzalez said she has since be reassigned to work the overnight shift at the sheriff’s station in Cerritos.

To Vince Miller, the attorney representing Gonzalez in her 2022 lawsuit, which remains pending, it’s a troubling development.

“It’s going to send a chilling message” to other whistleblowers, he told The Times. “Part of why they’re doing this to her is because they know how widely respected she is and I think this is a message to all whistleblowers that this is what’s going to happen if you speak up.”