A $6.8 million jury verdict was rendered in favor of Slade Douglas in a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and two Los Angeles police officers.
The lawsuit stemmed from an incident in August 2019 when Douglas was arrested by Los Angeles police officers at his apartment after the officers were sent to the apartment by a call from an employee of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs who was angry that Douglas had filed a discrimination complaint against the agency.
The original lawsuit sought $30 million in damages.
The suit stems from an incident in August 27, 2019, when LAPD officers conducted what they contended was a welfare check and what Douglas’ attorneys said was a government-initiated swatting by the VA, leading to Douglas’s false arrest by Officers Jeremy R. Wheeler and Jeffrey H. Yabana. Following that arrest, Douglas was forcibly hospitalized, drugged, and sexually assaulted under color of law.
“This jury didn’t buy the excuses,” said Slade’s attorney Lauren McRae. “They stripped away the coverups, rejected the deflections, and delivered pure accountability. This verdict is justice for Mr. Douglas—and hope that fear of the next verdict drives real reform.”
Douglas punctuated this point during an interview on “Roland Martin Unfiltered”: “It’s a level of dehumanization, and it’s clear that the City and LAPD believe certain people are not entitled to their constitutional rights.
The verdict is loud and clear: the people of California have spoken and said that constitutional rights are not optional. As taxpayers, these institutions must act with integrity, uphold the law, and protect the people they serve.”
“As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind—to safeguard lives and property, to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and to respect the Constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality and justice.” — LAPD Manual 210.10 – Law Enforcement Code of Ethics
Speaking on Roland Martin Unfiltered, Douglas’s attorney, Lauren McRae, said, in part, “On August 27, 2019, Officers Wheeler and Yabana broke that promise. And the City of Los Angeles—knowing one of the officers was unfit for duty—had a history of alcohol abuse as well as a history of mental health disorders, including bipolar schizophrenia, and sent him to Mr. Douglas’s door anyway.”
“The work continues,” McRae said. “We’ll be calling for the City to implement stronger oversight, better training, and policy reforms to ensure its officers are fit for duty. The community deserves a system that protects them. That’s what we’re fighting for.”
Douglas said that he initially let the officers into his apartment but then asked them to leave. When they refused to leave, he dialed 911, which Officer Wheeler told him was against the law.
Subsequently, Officers Wheeler and Yabana, joined by Sgt. Andrew Kang and LAFD personnel, transported Douglas in custody to PIH Good Samaritan Hospital, a facility contracted by the City, after body-worn camera footage captured officers stating that the transport was undertaken to protect the City and the officers from liability.
At the hospital, Douglas was double handcuffed to a gurney, and he was subjected to invasive blood draws, exhaustive toxicology tests, and genital penetration through forced catheterization, which he described as sexual assault by instrumentation under color of law (Cal. Penal Code § 289) and as evidence fabrication intended to retroactively justify an unlawful arrest on Roland Martin Unfiltered.
Once it was determined that Douglas had no drugs in his system, he was released from custody, according to his attorneys.
Douglas has an outstanding background and record: a former law-enforcement officer; a dual-sport NCAA athlete with sub-4.2 speed; a Golden Gloves boxer; a holder of multiple black belts and college degrees; and a national-championship football player.
After six years of legal battles, the case went to trial earlier this month with U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong presiding.
Douglas is represented by civil-rights attorneys Lauren McRae, Peter Carr, and Na’Shaun Neal.
Equal Justice Now has also spotlighted this case as part of its broader work exposing serious civil-rights violations and elevating stories that demand accountability.
“Justice for you, means justice for all!” – Thomas Lucas & EJN
Douglas’s story is also the subject of a feature documentary, Slade Douglas v. City of Los Angeles — The Veteran They Tried to Silence, available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Q99Er0n0Y.
Good for Mr. Douglas! Except, for the fact that it’s the INNOCENT TAX PAYERS, who are the ones held accountable/forced to pay for the unlawful and unconstitutional actions of such egotistical, incompetent, and corrupt, police officers! It’s high-time that money is paid by THE OFFENDING OFFICERS own pockets (which are ALSO TAX PAYER funded!) & that THEY ALSO are fired & face charges just as every other citizen is held accountable for failing at their jobs and after committing such offenses noted in this article! THAT will bring REAL REFORM! Enough is Enough! Thank you, OW staff, for covering this important issue!
Mr. Douglas deserved every bit of that lawsuit that he won for having to be subjected to such vile, abusive, & tyrannical, acts; especially as a VETERAN who SERVED to protect & defend our Constitution! Thank you, Mr. Douglas, for STILL defending & protecting our Constitution!