More than $900,000 Spent in Settling Concord Police Lawsuits

The City of Concord agreed to pay a Concord police officer more than $47,000 to settle a lawsuit stemming from his support of a female officer who had accused the city of gender discrimination.

Under the key terms of the settlement, Lt. Tmothy Runyon and his attorneys, Stan Casper and Toni Lisoni, will receive $47,511.27 in return for dismissal of his lawsuit. In addition, the city will pay a confidential amount to resolve Runyon’s workers’ compensation claim that was based on the same allegations as the civil lawsuit. 

This raises to nearly $1 million the amount the city has spent settling lawsuits stemming from three interrelated cases of sexual harassment and gender discrimination at the Police Department.

In November, the city paid $750,000 to settle a sexual harassment suit by officer Lisa Capocci, and in January, the city agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a gender discrimination suit brought by Robin  Heinemann—the department's highest-ranking female police officer. Runyon claimed he was discriminated against after he supported Heinemann for a promotion that she was not given.

Elisabeth Nardi has more background in this piece in the Contra Costa Times.