Implicit Bias Training | Michael Kohlhaas dot org

On a date in or around late 2017, Director Josh Rubenstein greeted the officers in Media Relations Division’s open office space as “ladies, gents, and officers” and, immediately thereafter, approached the Online Unit office and stated, “How are you boys?” At the time, only Plaintiff and Police Officer III Lyle Knight were present in the Online Unit office. Both Plaintiff and Officer Knight are African-American.  Within approximately one week, Rubenstein again asked Plaintiff and Officer Knight, “How are you boys?” Just days later, Rubenstein addressed Plaintiff and Officer Knight as “boys” for a third time. This time, however, Rubenstein did so in a snide and mocking tone of voice. Moreover, Rubenstein said “boys” so loudly that even Sgt. Preciado, who was sitting both outside of and a significant distance away from the Online Unit office, heard it.
—Raymond Brown v. City of Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Police Department gets sued. It gets sued a lot. And it’s not just their civilian victims suing them. It turns out that an organization dedicated to violence, secrecy, machismo, and the defense of capital is, who’d have thought, not a very nice place to work. Which is why their own employees sue the LAPD a lot also.

Like for instance just last year LAPD Media Relations Officer Frank Preciado sued, alleging that his supervisor Josh Rubenstein¹ didn’t allow Preciado and others to speak Spanish in the office. Preciado also alleged that Rubenstein banned Media Relations employees from tuning in to Spanish Language TV on the Department’s monitors.

The situation is not only discriminatory according to Preciado but, given that his official duties include speaking to Spanish language media folks, it also prevents him from doing his job properly. Rubenstein is LAPD’s most visible Anglophone public information officer. The dude is everywhere and he’s always got time for the media. Unless, I guess, they’re working in Spanish.

Preciado’s suit got some media attention in 2019 when it was filed, but not much since. That little bit is more than Raymond Brown’s suit, filed in May 2020, received, though. And Brown’s suit also hinges on Rubenstein’s weirdo antics, in particular the fact that apparently Rubenstein thinks it’s acceptable to refer to Black LAPD officers as “boys”.
Continue reading Josh Rubenstein Apparently Calls Black LAPD Officers “Boys” — Right To Their Faces — And When His African-American Subordinate Raymond Brown Complained Repeatedly Rubenstein And His Media Relations Sidekick Patricia Sandoval Apparently Told Him He’d Never Get Promoted — And Then Apparently Didn’t Promote Him At Least Twice — So In May Brown Filed A Suit Against The City Of Los Angeles — It’s Worth Reading And There’s A Copy Right Here For You! →