A fight over whether a lifeguard should have been fired after chasing down a 10-year-old boy on the beach has ended in a legal fight that put the city of Long Beach in the awkward position of essentially suing itself, leaving the employment matter in the hands of a judge who will decide if the employee gets to keep his job.
The legal action stems from the case of Jeffrey Gillott, who was fired from the city’s Marine Safety Division in early 2019 after an incident during a parents’ day event hosted by the Long Beach Fire Department’s Junior Lifeguard program.
Gillott, then a lifeguard with the fire department’s Marine Safety Division, was attending while off duty, according to accounts in court papers. On two occasions that day, a 10-year-old boy hit Gillott in the back with a ball while playing dodgeball, according to testimony by the boy and various witnesses included in court records. On the first occasion, the boy ran from Gillott, but then fell onto the sand. Gillott “proceeded to hold him down and throw a handful of sand down his trunks,” the boy testified.
Though shaken, the boy testified that a couple of minutes later he again threw a ball at Gillott, who again chased him. This time, Gillott caught him, then “picked him up, squeezed him and threw him to the ground,” according to the boy’s testimony. Gillott then once again “proceeded to throw sand down his pants,” the boy testified.
The boy said that the incidents made him “scared, very uncomfortable and embarrassed.” The boy’s mother further testified that she witnessed the second incident, then angrily confronted Gillott.
Gillott, who did not respond to requests for comment for this story, testified he only put sand in the boy’s pocket. The city, however, decided to terminate his employment on Jan. 17, 2019.
Gillott appealed his dismissal to Long Beach’s Civil Service Commission, which sets hiring standards in the city and has final say over employee discipline.
After hearing the testimony from Gillott and other witnesses, the commission ruled that Gillott had violated city civil service regulations and was “dishonest” with fire investigators over the issue of putting sand down the boy’s shorts, but it deadlocked on a vote about whether to sustain the punishment of dismissal.
“As a result, Jeffrey Gillott will be reinstated to his position as Marine Safety Officer effective immediately,” states the Civil Service Commission’s hearing minutes, which also state that the commission voted unanimously that Gillott should not receive back pay or benefits.
Long Beach’s top executive, City Manager Tom Modica, however, objected to the outcome, arguing that Gillott should have remained dismissed from city employment following the deadlocked vote on his punishment. On April 13, Modica filed a writ of mandate, essentially a lawsuit, asking a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to overturn the commission’s decision.
Modica argues the Civil Service Commission committed a “prejudicial error” by reinstating Gillott after sustaining the allegations against him.
Gary Anderson, the principal deputy city attorney who advised the Civil Service Commission during its January hearings on Gillott, said he had no comment on the legal action, except to say that the city is waiting to get clear guidance from the court. Because of backlogs caused by the pandemic, that’s not likely to happen until August or September, Anderson said.
Anderson added that Gillott has not yet been reinstated to his job, but that would happen in the “very near future.” He’s currently waiting for medical clearance, a requirement for all city employees who’ve been out of employment from the city for more than six months.
Gillott will likely return to work before the courts rule on Modica’s writ of mandate, Anderson said.
This isn’t the first time the Long Beach city manager has sued the city’s Civil Service Commission. The last time was the early 1990s, when the Long Beach Police Department fired police officer Alan Ice after he shot and nearly killed a man during a road rage incident while he was off duty.
Ice appealed his termination to the Civil Service Commission in 1993. After sustaining the charges against him, the commission reduced his punishment from termination to suspension without back pay.
Then-City Manager James Hankla filed a writ of mandate against the Civil Service Commission, similar to that filed by Modica over Gillott. Though a lower court denied Hankla’s petition, the Appeals Court ruled in his favor in 1995.
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