FOLSOM, Calif. — Three Folsom Police Department employees’ motion to join a discrimination lawsuit filed by former officer James Dorris in 2023 was denied.
Dorris’ attorney David Foyil filed a motion for joinder in March attempting to add Homer Limon, Laura Knudsen and Kimberly Lim-Watson to the case filed against the city of Folsom, according to Sacramento County Superior Court records. The motion was denied April 25.
Dorris alleges officers harbored bias against him because he is Asian; Limon alleges bias because he is Hispanic, Knudsen alleges bias because she is Canadian and Lim-Watson alleges bias because she, like Dorris, is Asian. Lim-Watson was still employed with the department as of March.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Christopher Krueger ruled the following:
“Limon and Knudsen’s claims bear little similarity to plaintiff’s, and none of the incidents described in their declarations could be described as the same transaction, occurrence or series of transactions as the incidents alleged in plaintiff’s complaint. As for Lim-Watson, the only similarity is that she and Plaintiff are both Asian and are alleging harassment and discrimination based on their Asian race/ethnicity. But none of the incidents of harassment or discrimination directed at Plaintiff were also directed at Lim-Watson.”
Foyil told ABC10 in March it's crucial to understand the issue Dorris brings forth is not an isolated incident.
“...It extends beyond the Asian community to encompass other protected classes of individual,” he said. “Our office continues to receive calls reporting incidents of harassment and discrimination of citizens of (the) city of Folsom…We hope that this legal process will not only bring closure to those affected but also prompt procedural reforms to prevent future instances of discrimination and harassment.”
Dorris filed his discrimination and harassment lawsuit in spring 2023 alleging years of racist incidents and harassment including slurs, mockery and inappropriate write-ups during his 17 years with the department before his firing in 2022.
Dorris said he endured comments using Asian stereotypes with some referencing his appearance. His lawsuit alleges he was one of two Asian officers out of its more than 80 employees from 2005-2022; the other was Lim-Watson.
Folsom’s population is approximately 19.7% Asian, according to United States Census Bureau data.
“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 of Folsom said in a statement to ABC10. “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.”
ABC10 reached out to the Folsom Police Officers’ Association for comment in March when Limon, Knudsen and Lim-Watson’s motion for joinder was originally filed, and the organization did not respond to request for comment.
Homer Limon’s allegations
Prior to working in Folsom, Homer Limon served the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office for five years. He then worked as an officer with the Folsom Police Department from 2003 until October 2021. During his time with the department, he said he was one of only four Hispanic officers.
In 2007, he said he was offered a full-time position on the Special Enforcement Neighborhood Enhancement Team (SENET). In 2008, he alleged he overheard officers discussing their unlawful engagement in sexual activity while on duty with females working at massage parlors or in escorting services. Limon alleges he learned of separate sexual misconduct in Chico.
These incidents were reported in 2009 by Gold Country Media and the Chico News & Review.
At one point, Limon alleges in the denied motion one of these officers asked him for a ride to a massage parlor. Limon said he feared he would be segregated and retaliated against if he tried to raise any concerns but reported alleged misconduct to a sergeant, who suggested meeting to discuss the allegations in a secluded location in El Dorado Hills at night.
“I became fearful of such a suggestion as it was unusual, and I expected to meet for an official report at the department in Folsom,” Limon said in the motion. “I feared that I would get hurt. I informed my wife and my ex-fellow officer at the Sacramento sheriff’s department of the location of the meeting and the nature of the conversation. Additionally, I carried my firearm to the meeting.”
Despite his fear, Limon said the meeting consisted of him discussing what he had seen and heard.
Shortly after the meeting, Limon said he took family leave to spend time with his wife and newborn son. Upon returning, he alleges an officer involved in misconduct was promoted to a SENET detective, and the two were assigned to work together.
“Additionally, I was informed that I would be working as a part-time detective,” Limon said.
Limon said he was told his report was unfounded, and he allegedly became the subject of retaliation and harassment by both fellow officers and superiors.
“Sergeants made such comments as ‘rat’ and ‘snitch,’” Limon said. “Fellow officers would stop the conversation anytime I was around. The environment at the department became extremely hostile towards me.”
Limon said he reported incidents to human resources (HR) and his superiors.
“My supervisor told me to ‘get over it’ and continue employment,” Limon said.
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.
“Moreover, every time there was an arrest of someone of Hispanic descent, I would get comments such as, ‘We just arrested your son on the street,’ or ‘Limon, we arrested your people (or your brother) today,’” Limon wrote in the denied motion.
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.
Dorris said the stickers appeared around 2007 and 2008.
“They would have a quote written on them saying, ‘I’m Officer Dorris,’” Dorris’s original 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.”
Laura Knudsen’s allegations
Laura Knudsen began work as property evidence technician with the Folsom Police Department in 2006; she retired in October 2023.
She identifies herself in the denied motion as Canadian and alleges she was constantly ridiculed because of her Canadian accent.
“The harassment was so egregious and persistent that I tried to change how I pronounced words, but it was never good enough or was not ‘The American’ way,” she said.
She alleges offensive comments were made about her Canadian tattoo and her lunchbox, which reportedly featured a Canadian beaver.
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.
“I replied that I don’t believe the department will conduct an adequate investigation based on my previous attempts speaking with HR,” Knudsen said.
Knudsen said she decided to retire prematurely from the department based on continuous harassment and discrimination she endured.
Kimberly Lim-Watson’s allegations
Kimberly Lim-Watson started working with the Folsom Police Department in 2005 after serving three years with the Corning Police Department. She was still employed with the department as of March, according to a city spokesperson.
She alleged in the denied motion that in her last 19 years at 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.
“Such behavior was particularly offensive to me, because I was the only Asian female officer in the department,” she said.
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.
"I was deeply offended by such misconduct at the department, as during the pandemic, there was public speculation that COVID-19 was initiated in China,” she said.
Lim-Watson said she had concerns about making any direct statements or formal objections against harassment because of the questionable ethical culture across the department.
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.
Dorris alleges in his original lawsuit that sergeants served disciplinary notices and engaged in daily harassment of Lim-Watson and — in one case during a shooting exercise — kicked her feet, grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her several feet across the dirt after appearing dissatisfied with her placement in the prone position.
“(He) kept yelling at me and proceeded with physically moving and touching me during the training,” Lim-Watson said. “(He) humiliated me by moving me around like a toy.”
After the shooting range, she said she reported the incident to HR.
“The results of the review were unfounded,” she said. “I was informed that I had a problem with my perception and feelings.”
She was reportedly interviewed by a city attorney during an investigation sparked by 'Dorris v. City of Folsom' during which she confirmed racial harassment in the department.
She alleges she once asked an officer for assistance, and they responded: “Why are you asking me? Apparently, I’m a racist.”
“I fear that disclosing sexual and racial harassment will result in segregation and retaliation against me,” Lim-Watson said in the denied motion.
She said numerous comments regarding Asians were made by superiors and other officers toward Dorris and herself, and she said the comments referencing Dorris targeted his skin color and eye shape.
“Between 2019 and 2020, during a briefing with the entire department, (a sergeant) would see an Asian name on the arrest board. In front of everyone, (the sergeant) would ask mockingly, ‘How do you pronounce that, Dorris?’” Lim-Watson said.
Dorris’ original lawsuit
Dorris said he endured constant comments using Asian stereotypes with some referencing his appearance. The 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 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.”
The Folsom Police Department declined at the time to comment on pending litigation, and the Folsom Police Officers’ Association did not respond to a request for comment.
The city of Folsom released a statement about the lawsuit in November 2023:
“This is a retaliatory lawsuit filed by a former Folsom police officer who was terminated for misconduct,” the statement said. “The lawsuit was filed after misconduct was sustained and the termination upheld by an independent arbitrator. Regardless, the city of Folsom does not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment and takes the allegations seriously. The claims of discrimination contained in Mr. Dorris’ complaint are false and do not accurately reflect the character of the hard-working men and women in the Folsom Police Department serving and protecting the public each and every day. The city values the diverse background and inclusivity of all its employees.”
Foyil, Dorris’ attorney, said the city of Folsom’s previous attempts to discredit Dorris were based on unfounded information.
“Our firm remains steadfast in our commitment to pursuing justice through legal avenues,” Foyil said.
The city provided ABC10 with a copy of the arbitrator’s report. In it, the arbitrator says texts between Dorris and his girlfriend revealed discriminatory comments Dorris made toward Black people. The arbitrator ruled Dorris’ termination was justified because the "damage to his effectiveness and the city has been done."
Dorris allegedly made "egregious racially charged statements, at least one of which was done on-duty, which undermine his effectiveness as a police officer in addition to the department’s reputation,” the ruling said.
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