San Diego Firefighters’ Lawsuit to be Retried Due to Mistrial

October 7, 2008

San Diego, CA – A San Diego judge declared a mistrial in the lawsuit brought to court by four San Diego firefighters. The lawsuit alleges that they were sexually harassed sexually during the 2007 gay pride parade.

Jurors took four days to deliberate over the case before telling the judge that they were unable to reach a verdict. One of the jurors revealed that the jury was split 8 to 4 (with 8 votes in favor of the firefighters), with 9 votes needed to decide a civil case.

Juror Helene Matthews said that the firefighters were put in a situation that went against their morals. The four firefighters were ordered to drive their trucks in the 2007 gay pride parade despite their protests. This resulted to them being subjected to catcalls and taunts for the duration of the parade in the Hillcrest neighborhood.

San Diego County Superior Court Judge Anello set the possible date for the retrial on January 16.

Firefighter John Ghiotto said, “"For me, I believe it was a win because we stood up for what we believe in. It was never about any money.”

Although the jury was unable to reach a verdict for the harassment charges, they did reject (with a vote of 11 to 1) the claim of one of the firefighters, Jason Hewitt that he was retaliated against in the workplace. Hewitt had claimed that he received a negative work review because of the lawsuit.