SACRAMENTO, CA– In a settlement announced earlier this month, the City of Sacramento agreed to pay $430,000 to Richard Sanchez, a former sanitation worker, and his wife Tanya, in a lawsuit that alleges racial discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment, according to a story in the Sacramento Bee.
The case, filed in 2013, centers around a 2011 incident involving Sanchez’s managers, Steve Harriman and William Skinner, in which a simple gesture by Sanchez led to accusations of misconduct and a series of retaliatory actions that severely affected his career.
According to the Bee, the dispute began in March 2011, when Richard Sanchez, a 30-year veteran of the Sacramento Recycling and Solid Waste Division, made a gesture during a tailgate meeting with his coworkers.
According to the lawsuit, Sanchez made a “kissing butt” gesture to a colleague after a question was answered by their new supervisor, Harriman. The gesture, which was part of a longstanding inside joke between Sanchez and his coworker, was misinterpreted by Harriman, who allegedly “exploded” in response, accusing Sanchez of making an inappropriate sexual reference.
Sanchez immediately explained that the gesture was harmless and not directed at Harriman, but the tension had already begun, said the complaint, adding, “Harriman exploded and verbally attacked plaintiff (Sanchez); accusing plaintiff of making an oral sex reference implicating that Harriman was somehow fond of homosexual oral sex.”
The Sacramento Bee states that though Sanchez clarified the situation, the incident led to severe repercussions.
Over the next several months, Sanchez faced disciplinary action, including a reduction in pay for 40 consecutive pay periods, for what was described in the disciplinary letter as “neglect of duty” and “insubordination.”
According to the city’s report, wrote the Bee, Sanchez’s gesture was deemed “inappropriate” and “disrespectful.” In addition to these financial penalties, Sanchez was denied a service award, which he had earned after 30 years of service, and was banned from a city event with then-Mayor Kevin Johnson.
These actions were seen by Sanchez as retaliation for his earlier complaint and as an attempt to undermine his credibility.
The Bee explained Sanchez’s complaint included allegations of racial discrimination. The lawsuit stated that both Harriman and Skinner, who were white males, held biases against their Latino and African American subordinates, expecting them to show “deference” at all times.
Sanchez’s attorney, Richard A. Lewis, argued the treatment Sanchez received was rooted in these racial biases, charging, in the Bee story, “Harriman and Skinner expected their Latino and African American subordinates to ‘kowtow, beg and demonstrate contrition and deference at all times.'”
The Sacramento Bee writes the issue of racial discrimination was compounded by the city’s handling of Sanchez’s formal complaint of harassment, which was filed in 2012 and subsequently rejected.
Sanchez’s attempts to seek support from his union were also unsuccessful, with union leadership informing him that he had exhausted all internal remedies by July 2012, the Bee wrote, and, as the lawsuit explains, “Sanchez cited a number of causes for his complaint, including racial discrimination, racial discrimination retaliation, and defamation.”
According to the Sacramento Bee, the settlement, which occurred in August 2024, marks the end of a long legal battle for Sanchez and his wife, Tanya. The city did not admit liability, but agreed to pay $430,000 to resolve the case.
