Sheriff Bans Sexual-Orientation Bias

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department announced Thursday that it will officially forbid discrimination or harassment against lesbians and gay men based on sexual orientation, settling a suit brought by a lesbian graduate of a recent department training academy.

Under the settlement, signed and filed Thursday in San Diego Superior Court, the department’s official rule book will be amended to specifically bar prejudice based on sexual orientation. Deputies also will undergo several hours of “cultural awareness” training.

Laura Shands, 34, a deputy county marshal who filed the suit in November, 1991, to challenge what she called a pervasive anti-gay culture in training at the sheriff’s academy, said Thursday that she was “very happy” with the settlement.

“It’s a big change for the Sheriff’s Department,” Shands said. “It will be a big change for the gay and lesbian deputies working for the Sheriff’s Department, and of course for those gay and lesbian citizens who will have contact in the future with deputies. I think it’s going to help everybody all around.”

Sheriff Jim Roache said Thursday that the settlement should underscore his commitment to ending discrimination.

The settlement reflects “a realization on the part of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department that we have an obligation to conduct ourselves in an impeccable, professional manner and that we do not tolerate discrimination in any form,” Roache said.

In 1986, a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union led to a permanent court injunction barring the Sheriff’s Department from firing or refusing to promote gay employees, or asking applicants about their sexual orientation.

The department was run then by Sheriff John Duffy. Roache was elected in 1990.

The ACLU also filed suit for Shands, aided by the Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund in Los Angeles, a law office that specializes in issues involving lesbians and gay men.

In her suit, Shands, a December, 1990, academy graduate, said she heard instructors and trainees scorn homosexuals on “virtually a daily basis” during lectures and training presentations.

In the settlement signed Thursday, the department agreed to broaden the rule in its policy manual that bans discrimination based on “race, religion, politics (and) national origin” to include “sexual orientation, lifestyle or similar personal characteristics.”

Roache also agreed to order the “cultural awareness” training for all deputies and civilian employees. That training will include such topics as the history of the lesbian and gay movements, AIDS awareness and understanding stereotypes, Roache said.

Roache said Thursday that he even intends to take the course himself. “It’s as equally applicable to me as an individual and as sheriff as it is to the brand-new deputy sheriff in this department,” he said.

Shands originally sought money damages. But a judge ruled months ago that she was not eligible for money damages because she went directly to court, without first filing an administrative claim with county officials.