What's at stake:
According to a lawsuit filed in Fresno Superior Court this month, a former employee of the Fresno Police Officers Association alleged she was subjected to sexual harassment by the police union’s president Jeff La Blue, who denies wrongdoing.
The former business manager of the Fresno police union filed a lawsuit against her former employer, alleging wrongful termination and sexual harassment by the union’s top leader.
The lawsuit, filed Jan. 22 in Fresno County Superior Court, alleges that police union President Jeff La Blue made repeated, unwanted sexual advances at the union’s former business manager Anna Pine.
Pine was terminated in August last year, which the lawsuit claims was in retaliation to Pine rejecting La Blue’s advances on at least two occasions.
“The termination was retaliatory and rooted in sex-based hostility and the systematic degradation of Plaintiff authority after she rejected La Blue’s advances, opposed misconduct, and sought HR guidance,” the lawsuit filing stated.
At the time of terminating Pine, the lawsuit states, she was offered just under $64,000 in severance — conditioned on confidentiality and Pine staying quiet about what occurred.
“This attempted gag provision is unlawful and void under California’s Silenced No More Act
(Code Civ. Proc. 1001; Gov. Code 12964.5),” the legal complaint argued, “which prohibits using severance or settlement terms to suppress disclosure of sexual harassment, sex discrimination, or retaliation. The offer itself evidences Defendants’ intent to buy silence rather than address misconduct.”
The lawsuit was filed in court just a week before The Fresno Bee revealed that a former Fresno police sergeant reached a $1.7 million settlement in a wrongful termination and sexual harassment lawsuit. In a work group chat, the ex-Fresno cop was subjected to sexual, racist and homophobic jokes and images.
La Blue sent a statement to Fresnoland, stating that Pine was terminated for performance issues, and that extensive documentation contradicts the lawsuit’s allegations.
“Based on the evidence identified and acquired after Pine’s termination, the FPOA and La Blue will take all necessary actions to defend themselves and vindicate their right,” La Blue said in the statement.
Pine is represented by local attorney Brian Whelan, who pushed back on the police union and La Blue’s statement.
“We’ve received the FPOA’s statement on the lawsuit. The organization’s president is on tape blaming my client’s menstrual cycle, calling her a ‘f—ing bitch,’ and saying he was going to fire her for doing her job,” Whelan wrote over email. “Afterward, they lied about her to cover it up. That is not a misunderstanding — it is blatant retaliation and sex discrimination, and my client will be vindicated in court.”
The suit only names the Fresno Police Officers Association and its president Jeff La Blue as defendants.
La Blue caught on tape, lawsuit says
According to the lawsuit filing, La Blue made sexual advances after Pine got a divorce a few years ago.
Between December 2023 and March 2024, La Blue and Pine engaged in a “romantic and graphic ‘sexting’ relationship,” according to the lawsuit filing. During those months, La Blue “engaged in repeated sexualized communications and conduct toward Plaintiff, including explicit text messages, handwritten notes, verbal statements, and physical (but rejected) advances,” according to the lawsuit filing.
“The communications and conduct occurred in the context of workplace power imbalance involving the head of the organization and senior employee whose job security, authority, and reputation were directly affected by La Blue’s conduct,” the legal complaint also stated.
When Pine sought to “reestablish professional boundaries and disengage from the sexualized dynamic,” the legal complaint states that La Blue’s demeanor changed, and so did Pine’s work environment.
In November 2024, Pine told La Blue that she would no longer tolerate “sexualized conduct” at work, the lawsuit states. Additionally, a colleague of Pine at the time broke down in tears while recounting to her and others the aggressive and sexual remarks La Blue made about Pine.
That colleague of Pine “was terminated not long thereafter after having been the employee who first voiced alarm about La Blue’s sexualized behavior,” the lawsuit filing stated.
Just a month after Pine drew boundaries at work, the lawsuit filing stated that La Blue made another sexual advance — this time at a retirement committee meeting inside a police union conference room.
Pine immediately pulled away, the lawsuit filing stated, to which La Blue reacted negatively.
A few months later, an audio recording caught La Blue making explicit, sexist and degrading remarks about Pine, “including calling her ‘a fucking bitch,’ speculating about her menstrual cycle being ‘a fucking nightmare,’ and stating that she ‘goes through these cycles.’”
“In that same recorded conversation, La Blue stated words to the effect of ‘I am going to fire her for this,’ referring directly to Plaintiff asserting authority, enforcing workplace standards, and pushing back against misconduct. The recording reflects retaliatory intent expressed plainly and contemporaneously by the FPOA’s President,” the lawsuit filing argued.
Pine was fired in August. The lawsuit stated that Pine filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, which issued her a right-to-sue notice.
Pine is seeking a jury trial, and the lawsuit’s first case management conference was scheduled for June 30. Pine is seeking $1.9 million in damages.
