Blake v. Los Angeles Police Dept.

In 1973, Detective Sergeant Fanchon Blake was nearing the end of her 25-year career in the Los Angeles Police Department. But she had some unfinished business to attend to and needed the services of the Center. She wanted to sue the Department for sex discrimination. 

Despite her experience, including a stint in the criminal intelligence service of the Army, Blake was prohibited from rising above the rank of Sergeant solely because she was a woman. The Department was now planning to relegate the few women officers–150 out of some 7,000–to desk jobs. The Department was also adopting arbitrary physical standards, including a 5'8" minimum height requirement, that ruled out most new female applicants. In short, the Department was becoming a virtual all-male police force. 

In August, 1973, the Center, with Blake as lead plaintiff, filed a lawsuit under the federal Civil Rights Act charging the Department with sex discrimination. In the past four years  4,500 women had applied for jobs with the Department. None had been hired. 

The Department responded by shifting Blake from the forgery unit to a seat behind a reception desk. "I was given the silent treatment by both men and women," said Blake. 

Within a year, Blake left the Department to become security chief with an aerospace company but she would still have her day in court. 

During the litigation, Center attorneys Tom Hunt and Tim Flynn had to overcome fear and folklore concerning the ability of women, without the size, strength or "command presence" traditionally associated with police work, to perform effectively. The Center filed over 600 legal documents with the court and took over 50 depositions from police officials in other cities concerning the performance of women officers.

In a consent decree approved by the federal court in March 1981, the Department agreed to eliminate its exclusionary policies. The minimum height requirement was reduced to 5 feet. The ban on promotions beyond Sergeant was lifted. The Department agreed to hire women in sufficient numbers "to eliminate the effects of past discrimination." A $2 million relief fund was set up for victims of past discriminatory practices. Blake consent decree includes the largest back pay award negotiated to that time in an employment discrimination case in California. The decree also sets a 25% goal for the hiring of qualified women until they constitute 20% of all sworn officers. (When the case was filed, women officers comprised barely 2% of LAPD's workforce.) Similar goals for minority hiring and for promotions of women and minorities are included.

Blake, now retired and living in Washington State, flew down for the final court proceedings. From the steps of the courthouse, she told reporters, "I stand today recognized as a first-class citizen and I'm proud."

The Blake case marked a watershed victory in the women’s employment discrimination field.  Gender stereotypes could no longer be used as the basis for discrimination against women, even in employment fields such as police work, where arguably a large muscular masculine body frame would be an asset.  As the Los Angeles Times put it in an editorial on the Blake case, “Danger is unrelated to gender or race.  It is time to redress a long-standing inequity, rather than resist inevitable change.”

In 1990, Blake was invited to participate in a Women's Honor Day sponsored by her former police department. She saw women on the bomb squad, beach patrol, horse patrol, and motorcycle patrol. She also saw women with the rank of Captain. She heard Chief Gates concede five times that he was wrong and that the Department was better for having women on the force.

The June 1990 “Women’s Honor Day” celebrated the fact that the number of female police officers had increased from a little more than 100 at the time of the settlement to more than 1,000 (almost 15% of the total force).  Speaking to the gathering, Chief Gates conceded five times that he had been wrong that the LAPD was a better police department with women on the force. Detective Fanchon Blake reminisced that, when she became lead plaintiff in the case, she had been given the “silent treatment,” been removed from her regular assignments and she even feared for her safety.  But, she reflected, “to correct and change the system, one person had to step forward and invoke the law.”  The Women’s Honor celebration showcased women officers in all LAPD assignments - bomb squad, motorcycle patrol, and high–ranking captains and lieutenants, and many of the female officers personally thanked Detective Blake for her role in securing their jobs.

"The doors have all been unlocked," said Blake. "I finally feel I have been accepted back into the department."

In related litigation throughout the 1970’s and ‘80’s, CLIPI sued numerous public agencies in Southern California for alleged employment discrimination against women and minorities.  In one such case, for example, after a full trial, the Los Angeles County Fire Departments was found to employ only nine African-American fire fighters on its force of more than 1,900 officers.  Davis and cases against the Santa Ana Police and Fire Department, the City of Torrance Police Department, the Pasadena Police and Fire Departments, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Los Angeles Unified School District resulted in substantial back pay awards and potent hiring orders setting forth goals and timetables for future compliance.