On Tuesday, the City of Hanford resolved an alleged wrongful termination case involving former City Finance Director Paula Lofgren. A Kings County jury took less than one hour to deliberate and unanimously agreed that Ms. Lofgren was not fired by City Manager Mario Cifuentez because of her gender. By a vote of 11-1, jurors also concluded that at the time of her termination, the City did not have any reason to believe or perceive that Ms. Lofgren had a physical disability that would limit her ability to work. Therefore, there was no requirement for jurors to discuss whether Ms. Lofgren was fired because of her disability, which she also claimed in her lawsuit against the City.
Ms. Lofgren was hired as a Finance Manager in August of 2016 and promoted to Finance Director about a year later, a role she held until she was terminated in August of 2020. During closing statements on Tuesday morning, defense attorney Christina Smith reminded jurors that Ms. Lofgren was an at-will employee at the time of her termination and was fired because Cifuentez had many legitimate concerns related to her performance. Although the firing was not a decision Cifuentez took lightly, he still believes it was the right one for the City. During the trial, it was noted that Cifuentez has hired multiple women during his tenure, including the City’s Clerk and Police Chief.
“First and foremost, I would like to thank the jury for their time and careful consideration of the facts of this case,” Cifuentez said. “I’m also grateful for the City’s law firm, Griswold, LaSalle, Cobb, Dowd & Gin, including attorneys Christina Smith and Mario Zamora, who worked so hard work on ensuring that truth would prevail. Although this case has been an unnecessary distraction for myself and the City and included baseless lies and accusations, I want to be crystal clear about one thing: The City of Hanford works hard every day to be an employer of choice in the community, and as such, will always welcome employees of all backgrounds and will never tolerate discrimination in the workplace.”
When the lawsuit was originally filed in June of 2021, Cifuentez was individually named as a defendant in addition to the City, but he was dismissed as a defendant last year.
Ms. Lofgren will receive no financial award as a result of the jury’s decision. Her attorney had asked jurors to return a $19.2 million award in economic and noneconomic damages.