Larson obtained a favorable ruling for its client in an ongoing lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and others alleging a racially motivated traffic stop and assault.
On Wednesday, October 10, US District Judge Sunshine Sykes issued a favorable ruling for Larson client Ernest Simon, Jr., denying the City of Los Angeles’ Motion for Summary Judgment.
On March 18, 2021, Ernest Simon, Jr., a 31-year-old Black man and driver for The Walt Disney Company’s General Entertainment Division, was pulled over while driving legally during the filming of “Grey’s Anatomy.” Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers then initiated a racially-motivated “high-risk” traffic stop and Mr. Simon, who was fully cooperative and unarmed, was held at gunpoint for more than 20 minutes. The LAPD explains that they stopped Simon because their automated license plate reader mistakenly alerted that the van Mr. Simon was driving matched a BMW sedan that had been reported stolen, despite the fact that he was driving a Ford van. Mr. Simon is seeking $20 million in compensatory and punitive damages for unreasonable search and seizure, de facto arrest without probable cause, racial profiling, excessive force, false arrest and imprisonment, and assault.
According to founding partner Stephen G. Larson, this “ruling was a resounding validation of our lawsuit, and we believe is an important civil rights decision in favor of holding the police accountable for violations of constitutional rights.”
In denying Summary Judgment, Judge Sykes held “Subjecting people like Simon to a high-risk traffic stop is a deliberate choice by the City – a choice to direct officers to conduct unconstitutional policing.”
The Larson team representing Mr. Simon includes partners Stephen G. Larson, A. Alexander Lowder, Jonathan E. Phillips, Jerry A. Behnke, counsel Jonathan Gershon, and associates Christine Chung and Clinton Ford.
