Daily Republic: Woman sues Fairfield Police, City, for Discrimination, Retaliation
Social Services Coordinator Mary Ann Dawkins-Padigela filed her lawsuit Aug. 18 in the Solano Superior Court.
In it, she alleges that her superiors, Sgt. Brett Morris and Lt. Jausiah Jacobson, caused her to “experience significant, unlawful discrimination, harassment and retaliation” after she went up the chain of command, to human resources and eventually the Department of Fair Employment and Housing with her complaints.
Dawkins-Padigela, a Hindu, accuses Morris of “denigrating” staff that did not share his religious views and said that he “responded with hostility to those who rejected his entreaties to join his faith group.”
Mary Ann Dawkins-Padigela, center, stands between her husband, Rahul Padigela, left, and her brother, Brett Hawkins, during a press conference announcing a lawsuit against the Fairfield Police Department, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)
She also accuses Morris of teasing her for “living in sin” with her fiance and asking her about what financial arrangements she had with her future husband, interactions that she found sexist. She also claims he targeted her for her religion by harassing her for having a nose ring, which is a Hindu custom.
Dawkins-Padigela alleges in her claim that Morris “made it clear” that “if subordinate employees did not similarly share his religious beliefs, and attend his church, they would be subjected to different and worse terms and conditions of employment.”
She alleges that he did in fact subject her to these worse terms and conditions.
Dawkins-Padigela further alleges in her claim that, as a way to try and get her to join his church, Morris told her personal things about himself before his faith “transformed him.” Dawkins-Padigela claims that Morris told her that he had sex with a woman who was not his wife while on duty, abused alcohol and watched pornography while on duty and at home.
She maintains that the discussions made her uncomfortable and that she was “deeply concerned that there appeared to be no repercussions for this conduct” and that Morris remained employed.
Dawkins-Padigela alleges that there is a double standard in the Police Department with regard to white males versus females and people of color.
Further, Dawkins-Padigela accuses Morris of berating her in front of her peers when she said she would discuss her concerns with his superior.
Dawkins-Padigela broke down in tears during a press conference Tuesday in front of the Fairfield Police Department as she described her case against the Morris and the department.
She was flanked by her family, her attorney Wendy Musell, the Rev. Sam Morris of the BayNorth Church of Christ, and Tri-City NAACP President Johnicon George as she described her experience, which she said had “changed her forever.”
Mary Ann Dawkins-Padigela, center, stands with friends and family and Wendy Musell of the Law Offices of Wendy Musell, far right, during a press conference announcing a lawsuit against the Fairfield Police Department, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)
A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Dawkins-Padigela said that she at first tried to be strong and just deal with it.
“I toughed it out,” she said. “I’m in the military. I’ve been deployed. I know how to tough it out.”
But, she said, when her complaints seemed to fall on deaf ears, she moved forward with her case. She accused Fairfield Police Chief Deanna Cantrell of looking at her with a “blank stare and silence” when she brought her concerns to her about being a Black woman in the organization.
Asked by the Daily Republic to square how a female police chief could be part of a lawsuit alleging sexism in the department, attorney Musell said, “Unfortunately, just like racism and just like sexism, individuals that are of the same sex are perfectly capable of perpetuating inequality.”
George of the NAACP called for a culture change at the Fairfield Police Department at the press conference due to the “terrorism” that Dawkins-Padigela had allegedly endured, noting that women employees are a minority there, and African-American women are an even smaller minority.
Musell has not yet indicated a monetary amount for the suit, but she said that they are seeking “injunctive relief.”
“The point is to address the wrongs that have been done to her but also to make a sustained change,” she said at the press conference. “Policy changes, practices changes, training, accountability. You can’t have a zero-tolerance policy that is really a zero-accountability policy.”
The Daily Republic reached out to both the Fairfield Police Department and the city for comment but did not hear back by press time.
