City to pay gay officer to settle discrimination suit

The city of Huntington Beach has settled a lawsuit by a gay police officer alleging harassment by his fellow employees because of his sexual orientation.

The city gave Adam Bereki, 29, a lump sum of $150,000 to end the suit, as part of a settlement voted on by the City Council in April, but did not admit wrongdoing, according to city and court records. In addition, he will receive a $4,000 per month disability payment for the rest of his life from officer retirement funds, which could ultimately add up to $2 million or more over a lifetime.

Bereki joined Huntington Beach police in 2001, but rumors that he was gay didn’t surface until a year later, according to the suit. From then through 2007, he was “subjected to disparaging and harassing comments and conduct regarding his sexuality,” according to the lawsuit.

When Police Chief Kenneth Small first heard the claims, he immediately launched an internal affairs investigation, Lt. Dave Bunetta said.

“If it’s brought to our attention of the chief or anyone in the department, we will actively investigate any allegation,” he said. “Harassment in the workplace is not tolerated by the chief or the police department, and we will take appropriate action based on the findings of an internal investigation.”

The findings of the investigation are confidential by law, Bunetta said. No one was placed on leave during the probe, he added.

While Bereki declined comment for the suit, his lawyer, James Traut, said Bereki was subjected to a constant barrage of harassment.

“It was a practically weekly onslaught of one tasteless joke after another,” he said. “It might be funny if you’re not gay. But if you are gay, and people know it, then these kind of things, especially in a cop culture, are annoying. It got to the point where he couldn’t stand coming in.”

Some of that alleged conduct includes being told he would make “a great cross-dresser;” an officer simulating anal sex on him during training as supervisors watched; and being asked if a visit to the doctor was about his “HIV kicking in,” according to the suit.

Bereki complained three times to superiors including Small, the suit states. While an internal affairs investigation was launched, no one was punished or reprimanded, according to the suit.

“He did everything he could to alert the superiors,” Traut said. “They say, ‘Well, we investigated,’ but they didn’t do anything about it. Nobody got reprimanded. The behavior continued.”

All department employees get anti-harassment training, with extra classes every two years for supervisors, Bunetta said. In addition, all officers must discuss the guidelines at their annual evaluations, he added.

“We would like to say that as soon as it came to the chief’s attention regarding the allegations, the chief took immediate action to initiate an investigation and to ensure there were no issues or problems regarding that employee as long as he was with the police department,” Bunetta said.