Former LAPD bomb detection K9 trainer wins more than $11 million in discrimination and retaliation lawsuit

LOS ANGELES — A jury has awarded $11.56 million to a former trainer in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Bomb Detection K9 Unit at Los Angeles International Airport who said he suffered retaliation and discrimination for coming forward about alleged violations of law.

Plaintiff Mark Sauvao, who retired Nov. 30, also maintained in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that he was stripped of his duties and removed from his position following his reports, which were met with a campaign of false criminal accusations and retaliatory actions by LAPD supervisors, according to his suit.

The jury returned its verdict late Tuesday.

“Officer Sauvao epitomizes dedication and resilience, standing firm against false accusations and egregious retaliation from his superiors,” Sauvao attorney Matthew McNicholas said in a statement. “This verdict exposes LAPD’s failure to uphold their own oath of integrity, rewarding misconduct by captains and command while driving away invaluable officers like Sauvao, who bravely defended his rights and faced unwarranted consequences.”

Sauvao was hired in 1993 and in 2005, he was selected for a coveted position as a dog handler for the LAPD Bomb Detection K9 Unit, which is within the Emergency Services Division. Sauvao was promoted in 2014 to bomb K9 trainer, a job with additional pay, benefits and prestige.

Sauvao’s dog training ability won him recognition nationwide as the “dog whisperer.” But in May 2016, the lieutenant in charge told Sauvao that other Bomb K9 supervisors were saying that Sauvao was engaging in blackmail and extortion by refusing to train other K9 handlers unless they surrendered their overtime hours to him, the suit alleged.

Sauvao demanded that the supervisors allegedly making the statements be investigated for accusing him of a crime, but the false remarks continued and the same lieutenant accused the plaintiff of being in a “Mafia,” tantamount to telling everyone that Sauvao was engaged in illegal conduct, the suit states.

Sauvao also reported that he witnessed another supervisor make derogatory comments about Latino officers, an Asian K9 handler and a pregnant K9 handler while also making similar derisive comments about the plaintiff’s Samoan ethnicity, calling him a “cannibal,” a “barefoot coconut tree- climber” and a “Tongan,” the suit stated.

Sauvao was blindsided by an Internal Affairs investigation in which his locker, desk and private bags were searched, and in April 2017 he was transferred to a desk job, which did not stop supervisors from violating his rights by publicly discussing his personnel matter in squad meetings, according to the lawsuit.

In their court papers, attorneys for the city told a different story.

“The plaintiff’s discrimination and retaliation claims have no merit because he was not subjected to an adverse employment action,” the city’s attorneys stated in their court papers. “Plaintiff’s involuntary move from the LAX bomb detection K-9 (unit) was lawful and proper even though it was not his preferred assignment. He remained in his prestigious position as a K-9 handler at the same rank, position and pay grade … for the city of L.A. until his retirement.”