A Los Angeles judge has refused to throw out a pregnancy-discrimination lawsuit filed by an LAPD officer who says a sergeant threatened to punch her in the stomach while she was five months pregnant. Judge Kristin S. Escalante denied the City of Los Angeles’ motion to dismiss Officer Serena Zavala’s case in its entirety, keeping the lawsuit alive as it heads toward a March 2027 trial.
Escalante wrote that Zavala’s attorneys had shown the alleged harassment by the sergeant, identified in court records as Sergeant Sinclair, was more than an isolated incident, according to mynewsla.com. The City Attorney’s Office had argued in court papers that Zavala did not suffer adverse treatment, including severe harassment, but the judge’s ruling allows the case to proceed. The denial does not establish that Zavala’s allegations have been proven — only that they cleared the legal bar needed to reach trial.
Zavala was hired by the LAPD in 2016 and assigned to the 77th Street Station. As reported by MyNewsLA.com, her lawsuit alleges that she was five months pregnant in November 2021 when she heard Sinclair mention her name along with an expletive. She claims he then said he would punch her in the gut a few times when she returned because she deserved it, a remark her suit describes her as viewing as a credible threat to herself and her unborn child.
Allegations of a Pattern, Not a Single Remark
Court filings described additional conduct beyond that one comment. As noted by MyNewsLA.com, Escalante’s ruling noted that Sinclair antagonized Zavala with dirty looks, smirking, eye-rolling, glaring and scoffing, and made hostile comments about her pregnancy along with violent language directed at her. Her lawsuit also alleges Sinclair asked two other officers whether Zavala was on light duty because of a urinary tract infection.
Zavala says she believed the remarks violated LAPD rules and city policy against gender harassment or discrimination, and she complained to management about the sergeant’s alleged statements. According to her lawsuit, an LAPD captain considered the remarks harassment and a serious criminal threat. The suit states that Zavala’s health and emotional state have been negatively impacted by the sergeant’s alleged remarks.
The City's Defense and a Disputed Use-of-Force Review
The City Attorney’s Office has pointed to a separate incident as part of its defense. The office told the court that in May 2020, Zavala was involved in a use-of-force incident that led Sinclair to review body-camera video of the encounter. The city’s filings state that Sinclair reported seeing Zavala kiss her husband in that footage.
According to the judge’s account of the record, Sinclair later filed a misconduct complaint against Zavala over the public display of affection, a complaint that was eventually rejected. Sinclair has contended that Zavala ruined his sergeant probation by pushing back on that misconduct complaint. The City Attorney’s Office has argued more broadly that Zavala suffered no adverse employment action because she was not terminated, demoted or denied a job for which she was qualified.
Case Heads Toward March Trial
With the motion to dismiss denied, Zavala’s case is scheduled for trial on March 8, 2027. Per a report from MyNewsLA.com, attorneys on the case have also expressed interest in mediation, and Zavala originally filed her lawsuit in July 2022, meaning the dispute will have worked its way through the courts for roughly five years by the time it reaches trial.
