FOLSOM, Calif. — Three former Folsom police employees alleging racism within the Folsom Police Department spoke publicly Wednesday for the first time about their discrimination lawsuits.
Around 1 p.m., former police officers James Dorris and Homer Limon and former evidence technician Laura Knudsen sat at a panel next to their attorney, David Foyil, and outlined multiple instances of alleged racist incidents they endured during each of their over 15 years of department employment.
Officer Kim Lim-Watson, who currently serves as a Folsom police officer and filed a discrimination lawsuit in June alongside Limon and Knudsen, was absent from the panel.
- Dorris alleges he endured racism during 17 years at the department. He is Asian. He filed his lawsuit in April 2023, according to Sacramento County Superior Court.
- Limon alleges he endured racism during 18 years working for the department. He is Hispanic. He filed his lawsuit June 10.
- Knudsen alleges she endured bias over 16 years because she is Canadian. She filed her lawsuit June 5.
- Lim-Watson alleges she has endured racism in Folsom since she started working as an officer in 2005. She is Asian. She filed her lawsuit June 6.
Limon, Knudsen and Lim-Watson originally filed to join Dorris’ lawsuit in March but a judge denied this motion in April, ABC10 previously reported.
When the trio first tried to join Dorris’ lawsuit, the city responded:
“The men and women of the Folsom Police Department treat each other with dignity and respect and have a long and proud history of serving our community with honor, dedication and integrity,” the city said in a statement. “The city and the Folsom Police Department value the diverse backgrounds and inclusivity of all of our employees. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination and take such allegations seriously."
The city of Folsom told ABC10 Wednesday it would not comment on the newer lawsuits due to ongoing litigation. However, the city said in November 2023 Dorris’ original suit was retaliatory because he was terminated for misconduct.
In an arbitrator’s ruling on his termination the city previously provided to ABC10, the court upheld Dorris’ termination because he allegedly made racially-charged statements in text messages, at least one of which was on duty. The comments targeted Black people and used slurs.
Dorris said the department held him accountable for that, and he is no longer fighting the department for his job. His discrimination lawsuit is to hold the police department accountable, he said.
“I fall on my sword. I'm a man. Because, guess what? There's a lot of people in that department that did a lot worse. I want to see accountability to be equal,” Dorris said on the panel. “That text message is elementary compared to what I've been through my entire career.”
The Folsom Police Officers Association also did not respond Wednesday to ABC10’s request for comment.
Wednesday’s news conference was put on by Foyil’s firm, Equal Justice Law Group, and the Coalition to Fix Folsom, who identifies as a political organization on Facebook and encourages the public to submit to them reports of misconduct by Folsom police.
A tear-filled press conference
It was an emotional afternoon for the former employees who appeared. Dorris and Limon both cried, and Limon said — even after coming forward — he’s afraid of retaliation from the department.
“I'm afraid because I've seen too much of what they've done to (Dorris), (Knudsen) and Officer Lim,” he said. “I kind of look at it as, ‘I know way too much. They're going to try to eliminate me.’”
Each plaintiff spoke to the department’s culture and alleged it felt like cliques were formed, and you were promoted only if you were a well-liked officer or employee.
“If you're one of their supervisors or an officer that they like, no matter what you do wrong, they'll promote you,” Limon said. “I feel as though they know trash on each other, so therefore they promote each other to keep each other quiet…Sometimes, I wish that I would’ve never came to Folsom.”
Knudsen alleged her accent was made fun of daily and said she was told to “suck it up” if someone made comments about her being Canadian because she was white.
“We were ignored,” Knudsen said. “I felt like everybody would just tell me, ‘Oh, what's your problem?’”
Knudsen also alleged in her lawsuit police would make racist comments about removing a specific race from Folsom.
Each employee’s allegations are as follows:
Dorris’ allegations
Dorris said he endured constant comments using Asian stereotypes with some referencing his appearance. His complaint says a number of them came directly from his predominant supervisor.
Dorris alleges supervisors would mock him with slurs and accents. In one instance, Dorris said he asked for clarification of instructions in a shooting course, and a sergeant responded by pretending to speak an Asian language. The lawsuit says the sergeant then asked: “Understand now?”
The lawsuit describes some apparent situations Dorris felt were discriminatory, including incidents in 2007 and 2008 where fellow officers allegedly placed anti-Asian stickers onto his locker.
“They would have a quote written on them saying, ‘I’m Officer Dorris,’” the lawsuit says. “Of particular concern was a posting on his locker portraying an Asian man appearing to (run) for his life while being shot in the head during the fall of Saigon during the nation’s Vietnam conflict from the 1960s and 1970s.”
The lawsuit also alleges Folsom police officers discriminated against an Asian bar owner during the COVID shut down.
“...During the COVID shut down, all of the bars remained open at some point contrary to public health orders,” court documents said. “However, the department only attempted to enforce legal restrictions against the Asian bar owner, leaving the others completely alone.”
Separate from racial incidents, the documents allege an off-duty, female senior officer made sexual advances toward Dorris in summer 2007 while he was on patrolling duty at a sports bar she attended.
“(He) prayed that one day the lieutenant or chief would say or do something to eradicate the conduct,” the lawsuit said. "He feared that he would be segregated and retaliated against if he tried to raise any concerns.”
Limon’s allegations
During his time with the department, Limon said he was one of only four Hispanic officers.
At the press conference, Limon said discrimination intensified after he acted as a whistleblower in a case where former Folsom police officers engaged in sexual misconduct while on duty.
These incidents were reported in 2009 by Gold Country Media and the Chico News & Review.
“Fellow officers made such comments as ‘rat’ and ‘snitch,’” Limon says in the filing. “Fellow officers would stop the conversation anytime (I) was around.”
Limon said he reported incidents to human resources (HR) and his superiors.
“(An officer) told me to ‘get over it’ and continue employment,” Limon wrote.
Limon alleges that many times over multiple years, if there was a Hispanic name on the arrest board, officers would ask him how to pronounce the name.
Every time there was an arrest of someone of Hispanic descent, Limon would receive comments such as, “We just arrested your son on the street,” or “Limon, we arrested your people (or your brother) today,” Limon alleged.
He reported Dorris and Lim-Watson received similar comments regarding their race, skin color and eye shape, and he alleged anti-Asian, racially offensive stickers kept appearing on Dorris’ locker.
Knudsen’s allegations
Knudsen alleges offensive comments were made about her Canadian tattoo and bag.
In summer 2018, Knudsen said she informed HR of the discrimination and harassment she was experiencing, but she never heard back.
Around this time, Knudsen alleges she heard a sergeant make fun of Dorris’ driving skills and connected them to his race. In July 2023, she alleges an officer mocked an Asian accent to a new, trainee Vietnamese officer and said, “What is it you are trying to say because I don’t understand you?”
She said Folsom city attorneys contacted her in August 2023 to obtain information related to Dorris’ active lawsuit, and she confirmed witnessing discrimination and harassment against Dorris and shared with an attorney her own experience.
The attorney reportedly called her days later and suggested she file an HR complaint.
Knudsen replied that she didn’t believe the department would conduct an adequate investigation based on previous attempts speaking with HR, her lawsuit says.
Lim-Watson’s allegations
Lim-Watson alleged in 19 years with Folsom, officers and superiors regularly played videos targeting the Asian community during staff briefings.
On one occasion, a fellow officer played a video produced by comedian Anjelah Johnson which featured Johnson recounting an experience at a nail spa with Vietnamese female employees and imitating their accents in the bit, Lim-Watson said.
After the video ended, the officer began imitating a Vietnamese accent and pretending to speak Vietnamese, Lim-Watson alleged.
Around March or April 2020, toward the beginning of the COVID-19 shutdown, Lim-Watson said the same officer played a song presenting a stereotypical Asian accent about the “Chinese flu,” and a supervising sergeant laughed along with a number of officers present.
She said supervisors and fellow officers made comments such as, “Kim is so dumb,” or “Kim is unsafe,” and targeted her intelligence and ability. She alleges one officer sent a text message meant for someone else to her on accident:
“I've only been working OT for an hour, and I already want to knock Kim Lim the f*** out. She has reconfirmed that she is the dumbest officer we have. Absolute embarrassment.”
Lim-Watson alleges she experienced outrageous physical harassment, including an assault at the shooting range. She said a sergeant was unsatisfied with her performance during a shooting exercise, so he allegedly grabbed her by the legs and dragged her across the ground.
After the shooting range, she said she reported the incident to HR but the results were unfounded.
She was reportedly interviewed by a city attorney for an investigation sparked by “Dorris v. City of Folsom,” during which she confirmed racial harassment in the department.
Lim-Watson alleges at one point after the interview she asked an officer for assistance in a separate matter, and they responded: “Why are you asking me? Apparently, I’m a racist.”
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