A Los Angeles County judge awarded a former LAPD commander nearly $6 million on Wednesday, finding in his favor in a lawsuit against the department that claims he was wrongfully fired over a 2018 alcohol-fueled incident.
The commander, Nicole Mehringer, said she was held to a different standard than her male LAPD colleagues, who she said are allowed to keep their jobs under the same conditions, and sometimes department officials take drastic measures to hide their wrongdoing.
In the end, the judge agreed with him.
“I feel grateful and vindicated,” Mehringer told The Times after the verdict. “This decision means everything to me and in my mind it restores my dignity.”
One of his attorneys, Greg Smith, said former Chief Michel Moore’s testimony was important. At trial, Smith told jurors that Moore lied when the former chief, who retired in 2024, testified that he had never overturned a disciplinary panel’s decision to fire someone.
“The jury believed that our client was treated differently,” Smith said.
Smith said the case depends on how his client was treated by the police when he wanted to expose others for misconduct.
During the trial, Smith played jurors a videotaped message from former LAPD deputy chief John Sherman, in which Sherman talked about Mehringer’s good record and argued why he should keep his job. But Sherman later withdrew his support, publicly saying he was doing so because Mehringer had chosen to expose the department’s dirty laundry, Smith said.
Mehringer’s case dates back to April 27, 2018, when he and his subordinate, Sgt. James Kelly, arrested by Glendale police. The two were found in an unmarked police Dodge Charger that had come to rest next to a parked car in the middle of the road.
Kelly, who was driving, appeared to be intoxicated, while Mehringer also showed signs of intoxication and resisted officers, who needed 20 minutes to remove the two from the car, Glendale police told The Times in 2018.
Mehringer’s case was later dismissed, after he completed a 30-day outpatient rehabilitation program. Kelly later declined to enter the contest.
At the time of the incident, Mehringer was considered a rising star in the LAPD. He was in charge of the department’s employee relations team, which handles contract negotiations, grievances and other union matters.
Mehringer said that in his proposal, he was offered to be demoted two ranks to lieutenant, which he refused. He ended up losing his job after the disciplinary board ruled against him. Kelly was demoted from sergeant to an administrative position. He is no longer listed in the department’s latest list.
Mehringer sued the city to get her job back, saying her behavior — while against department policy — was no different from male employees who routinely broke the rules and got away with it. Unlike him, he said, some of these men were allowed to retire quietly. Some keep their jobs or even get promoted.
During sometimes tearful testimony, Mehringer testified that he knew having an inappropriate relationship with an underling and being drunk in public was wrong. He said the situation “humiliated” him and left him unemployed, but said the way his case was handled was unfair.
This decision marks another major legal loss for the city when it comes to the case of a female police chief.
In 2022, a judge awarded R4 million in damages to Lillian Carranza, a retired commander who sued alleging that the department’s leadership failed to respond appropriately when the police began circulating a photo of a naked woman that others falsely claimed was hers.
Another former LAPD senior, former Capt. Stacey Vince received a $10.1 million settlement in 2023 after accusing the Department of retaliation and discrimination against her for complaining about a supervisor’s behavior.
