Fired gay former LACo lifeguard alleges sexual orientation discrimination

A gay former Los Angeles County lifeguard with a long record of preventing drownings is suing her ex-employer, alleging she was subjected to homophobic comments by male colleagues and wrongfully fired in 2022 shortly after posting her engagement to a woman on her social media accounts.

Paige Sullivan‘s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also alleges sex and gender discrimination and harassment and failure to prevent discrimination and harassment. She seeks unspecified damages. A county representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Tuesday.

Sullivan was hired in May 2015 and during her career saved countless lives of beachgoers, represented the county in various competitions and worked at a children’s training program for about seven years, the suit states. However, the county Fire Department and the lifeguard division was male-dominated and Sullivan heard many comments, jokes and disparate comments about women and LGBTQ+ individuals from supervisors and co-workers, including, “Keep gayness behind closed doors,” and “Don’t act gay around here” and “I don’t know why there has to be a whole LGBTQ+ and Pride parade, it’s just shoving it in people’s faces,” the lawsuit states.

Some male colleagues said women should not be lifeguards and that men are better suited for the job, the suit states.

In October 2020, Sullivan posted four short videos on her personal social media while off-duty that were recorded at the beach and dealt with safety tips and advice for beach visitors, the suit states. About six months later in April 2021, a fellow lifeguard called Sullivan and informally told her that the county was informed about her videos and she immediately removed them from her social media accounts, the suit states. The plaintiff did not receive any notice of a violation of county policies and in 2022 she made her sexual orientation public and subsequently announced her new romantic relationship with a woman, the suit states

Sullivan continued to share her same-gender relationship and her sexual orientation and identity as a gay woman, and she personally told her colleagues about the topic when the summer 2022 lifeguard season began, according to her suit. Shortly thereafter, Sullivan’s supervisor told her she was being investigated for the October 2020 safety videos she posted, according to the suit, which further states that the supervisor “had no explanation for why the county had chosen to investigate plaintiff immediately after she came out as (gay) and nearly two years after the (safety) videos were posted.”

Sullivan was later subjected to an administrative review that she believes was more of an interrogation with biased questions and comments attacking her character and containing false accusations, the suit states. Sullivan became engaged to her girlfriend in October 2022 and shared the news of her social media accounts and not long afterward received a letter from the county stating she was fired, the suit states.

From that time until March of this year, Sullivan appealed the county’s “draconian decision” to the highest levels she could and questioned why the county did not abide by its own progressive discipline process, even though heterosexual and male employees received more favorable treatment for similar or worse misconduct, including drug possession and hitting a pedestrian with a county vehicle, the suit states.

In addition, many heterosexual and male lifeguards were not punished for posting on social media while on duty or for discussing their employment, according to the suit, which states that Sullivan has experienced financial losses and continues to suffer from severe emotional distress.

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