Photo: Hailshadow / iStock / Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A Los Angeles International Airport police lieutenant is suing the city, alleging he has been subjected to discrimination, retaliation and harassment because of his age and his Japanese-American background.
Lt. Norman Ino's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit seeks compensatory damages and an injunction stopping such alleged disparate treatment of him as well as others in the future. A representative for the City Attorney's Office could not be reached for comment on the suit brought Wednesday.
Ino, 59, was hired by the airport police in 2002 and was assigned to patrol. A sergeant who was assigned to work with him in 2018 often used a racial term associated with those of Japanese descent when speaking in the plaintiff's presence and also mimicked the accents of some Asians, according to the suit.
"While the mimicking of the Asian accent was not directly spoken to the plaintiff, the other sergeants, by listening, laughing and engaging with (the sergeant's) actions were, in turn, allowing, condoning, approving and ratifying this bigoted behavior," the suit alleges.
Ino complained about the sergeant's alleged discriminatory behavior to another lieutenant in April 2021, but nothing was done and the lieutenant asked the plaintiff if he really wanted to file a complaint, the suit states. Ino brought the complaint anyway and told the lieutenant he hoped the sergeant would be suspended, but still the situation was not resolved, according to the suit.
After Ino was promoted to a Watch 1 Lieutenant in August 2021 at age 56, the sergeant, knowing the plaintiff was eligible to retire, urged him to quit, the suit states.
"Plaintiff did his best to keep his head down and continue doing his job as the patrol lieutenant," the suit states.
However, Ino was transferred to a graveyard shift in March 2022 and given different reasons why and he was denied a more preferable shift that was left unfilled for months, the suit states. Ino believed the transfer was retaliatory and filed an internal complaint, the suit states.
Ino believes he suffered a further backlash just after Christmas of that year when he was denied reasonable requests for vacation days, the suit states. Although Ino agreed to drop his internal complaint in exchange for a swing shift, he continued to suffer retaliation, including being falsely accused of misrepresenting information in a unit-wide email the plaintiff sent regarding tactical vest usage, the suit alleges.
Ino was again denied vacation dates in November 2023 by a captain, but the time off was later approved by a commander, the suit states.
Ino's career has been severely impacted by the alleged adverse treatment, which has caused him emotional distress and may force him to retire earlier than he planned, the suit states.
