Former Oakland police chief LeRonne Armstrong sues city, Mayor Sheng Thao over termination
OAKLAND – Nearly one year after he was ousted, former Oakland police chief LeRonne Armstrong has filed a lawsuit against the city and Mayor Sheng Thao, alleging wrongful termination.
In a complaint filed this week, Armstrong claims that his termination violated both state law and his First Amendment rights. The suit alleges that he was fired from his post for speaking out about misconduct involving federal monitor Robert Warshaw.
"Oakland has had more than ten individuals serve in the role of police chief since 2013. Yet somehow, Warshaw has managed to play both sides of the fence by continuously claiming that OPD needs more change – under his watch – while escaping serious scrutiny for his own complete, self-professed failure," the filing said.
Since 2014, Warshaw has exercised court-ordered control over the Oakland Police Department, charging the city more than a million dollars annually to do that. The lawsuit alleges that, as the department grew close to full compliance and the end of receivership, Warshaw purposely tried to find something wrong so it would continue.
"Our position is that the monitor has had this pattern of finding fault and criticizing the Oakland Police Department's leadership," Billie Wenter, one of Armstrong's attorneys, told CBS News Bay Area. "And it has been ongoing and he has an incentive to do so, because it extends this lucrative contract he has."
Thao fired Armstrong in February 2023. Warshaw's report accused Armstrong of being dismissive of several cases of wrongdoing by officers, a claim later rejected by an independent administrative law judge.
But in firing him, Thao said the reason was actually because of his public statements criticizing the monitor.
Wenter said that violated his First Amendment right to free speech.
"The mayor described the termination and the reason for it. She indicated that it was because he spoke up about the monitor," said Wenter. "The reason cannot be unlawful. And the law does protect against retaliation."
The lawsuit specifies no dollar amount as damages. The irony is that, in Oakland, the Police Chief serves as an "at will" employee, which means the mayor could have fired him without giving a reason.
But Wenter said, when she attributed it to his public statements, it legally became a matter of retaliation.
"This is an unusual wrongful termination case. The City's sole decision-maker (Mayor Thao) has repeatedly and publicly explained her reasons for the unlawful termination – and those reasons are illegal and retaliatory on their face," the lawsuit said.
Bishop Bob Jackson, Pastor of Acts Full Gospel Church, has been an ardent supporter of Armstrong and thinks Thao made a hasty decision when she saw the monitor's report.
"I mean, she was just mayor not even a good month before she made the decision to fire the police chief," said Jackson. "I was thinking she didn't really even know the guy, didn't know all that he had done and etc. It was just sad for me. It was a sad day. And I think the criminals took advantage of it. Because, it was like, 'We didn't have a police chief? Wow, the city of Oakland is wide open!'"
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Since Armstrong's ouster, Darren Allison has served as Oakland's interim police chief.
The search for a permanent chief continues, after Thao rejected a list of three candidates submitted by the Police Commission late last year. Armstrong was reportedly one of the names submitted to the mayor.
Thao's spokesperson Francis Zamora told CBS News Bay Area at the time, "She would like to review more candidates in order to make a well informed decision on the best police chief for Oakland."
Under the City Charter, the commission, with the help of the City Administrator is charged with making the job announcement and preparing a list of at least three candidates and background materials for the mayor. Thao has the option of appointing a name from the list or rejecting the list entirely.
Members of the commission have since restarted their search for a chief and plan to send a new list of names to the mayor on March 1, which would be more than a year after Armstrong was ousted.
"The police commission forwarded to me three names, which I rejected," said Thao. "They are in charge of interviewing the applicants and all they do is refer to me the list of names--a minimum of three names. And those are the only names that I can choose from. And so, with that being said, their new timeline is early March."
On Wednesday afternoon, Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker's office issued a statement to CBS News Bay Area.
"Former Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong filed a government claim on July 17, 2023, challenging this termination. This claim is a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit against the city. The City denied the claim on August 29, 2023, triggering a deadline for him to file a lawsuit. We have not yet been served with the complaint," Parker's office said.
