City of Santa Barbara Loses Whistleblower Suit (CA)

A Santa Barbara jury concluded that the City of Santa Barbara should pay former dispatcher Bridget Bryden $1.28 million in economic damages sustained when she was terminated in March 2016 shortly after she’d voiced concerns to her superior that reductions to the qualifications required for new dispatchers posed a health and safety risk to officers in the field and the general public. At the time, the police department was grappling with a serious shortage in dispatchers. To help increase the number of candidates, departmental brass reduced the test scores… READ MORE