Court Overturns Personnel Commission Increase of Officer’s Discipline

In July 1994, 14—year veteran Huntington Beach Patrol Officer Tom Lovin observed a red Ferrari with a license plate which read “L84AD8″. Upon running the plates the vehicle came back registered to Nicole Brown Simpson. Unbeknownst to Lovin, CLETS had issued a statewide bulletin advising local agencies to stop running that particular license plate. Lovin, who had been on vacation, had no knowledge of the order and further claimed he ran the plate only for police-related business. At the conclusion of the investigation, Lovins’ supervisor recommended a ten-hour suspension. The administration thought a 40—hour suspension more appropriate.

At the hearing on the matter the hearing officer, Joe Gentile decided that the appropriate discipline should have been the ten hours initially recommended by the first supervisor. However, the Personnel Board decided to increase the recommendation of the hearing officer and set the discipline at 20 hours. Officer Lovin sought authorization from LDF to proceed with a writ to Superior Court and fight the increase and the discipline itself.

Nearly three years later, In Superior Court, the judge ruled that the Personnel Commission abused its discretion in increasing the discipline of Officer Lovin and set the discipline back at the original 10 hours recommended by his initial supervisor, prior to the intervention of the administration and Personnel Commission.

Officer Lovin was represented by LDF attorney James E. Trott in Huntington Beach.