As Elias Georgopoulos’ trial against the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency races to a close, Georgopoulos told the jury on Tuesday morning that he feared for his safety and would hide out in the parking lot for nearly seven hours of his shift to avoid parking enforcement director Shawn McCormick and fellow officer Sterling Haywood.
Georogpoulos told the court that former deputy director of parking enforcement James Lee advised Georgopoulos to avoid the office at 505 7th St., and instead stay outside in the parking lot, as tensions arose between Georgopoulos, McCormick, and Haywood.
This is the sixth day of the trial of Georgopoulos’ suit against the city and county of San Francisco at the San Francisco Superior Court for the alleged harassment and discrimination he endured while a senior parking control officer at the SFMTA.
Neither McCormick nor Haywood are on trial.
Key to Georgopoulos’ case is the allegation that the SFMTA failed to fully investigate his complaints.
Georgopulos testified that he filed five complaints against Mr. Haywood, both with Lee, and higher up the chain of command: first McCormick, then Tom McGuirre, then interim-director of the SFMTA, and Jeffrey Tumlin, former director of transportation.
Georgopoulos testified that he never received a response, nor was approached by anyone conducting an investigation. Hence, he hid in the parking lot to avoid further escalation.
“I had to hide from Shawn [McCormick] and Sterling [Haywood],” said Georgopolous, his voice cracking.
“Go on,” coaxed Eduardo Roy, Georgopoulos’ lawyer, “Take your power back …” he started, before Roy was quickly cut off by an objection by city attorneys (sustained by Superior Court Judge, Daniel Flores).
City attorneys shot quick glances at the jury, surveying them for any signs of sympathy.
Georgopoulos, a stocky, but short-statured man who walks with a limp, alleges that Haywood threatened and belittled him at the office, once calling him a “crippled faggot.”
Georgopoulos alleges he was also bullied by director McCormick, who he says deliberately ignored his claims of harassment. In yesterday’s trial, Georgopoulos testified that McCormick called him a “spic” and told him that he targeted the Mission, Bayview, and Excelsior for citations because “those people don’t know how to fight City Hall.”
“I felt helpless,” said Georgopoulos during his testimony. “My head was on a swivel walking to work … I was so confused as to why they weren’t doing anything.”
The SFMTA alleges that Georgopoulos himself had a quick temper, and employees had filed multiple complaints about him. He was written up for yelling at a subordinate, Joyce Nelson, after an argument over her alleged tardiness. Georgopoulos alleges Nelson then threatened that she knew his and his wife’s address, which Georgopoulos says, at the SFMTA, is confidential.
During Georgopoulos’ testimony on Tuesday, his lawyer attempted to paint him as a stickler for the rules, and a man with military aspirations – who was disliked for knowing the rules inside and out. During a heated argument with McCormick, which led to Georgopoulos leaving the SFMTA building for good, Georgopoulos says he gave McCormick, who is his superior, “three directives,” to stop harassing him, retaliating against him, and bullying him.
McCormick, on Monday, said that Georgopoulos’ behavior was just insubordination – and if he hadn’t resigned from his position, he would have recommended he be fired.
Georgopoulos’ lawyers additionally called upon an expert witness, Maria Brady, a career counselor, to testify that Georgopoulos’ “psychological damage” from his time at the transportation agency left him unable to maintain a higher-paying job. He currently works as a mobile notary.
Georgopoulos’ lawyer argues that the transportation agency is responsible for the wages and benefits he lost by resigning from the SFMTA ten years before his planned retirement. Brady says he currently earns only 25 percent of his pension.
“The odds that he would be able to maintain a job are low,” said Brady, who added that Georgopoulos also resigned from a short-lived job as a security guard with Allied Security due to depression and anxiety. “He has psychological limitations.”
City attorneys argued that Georgopoulos instead, was just a quitter looking for a payout.
“So you’re telling me he quit his job at the SFMTA, and then he quit his job again at Allied Security?” asked one. Brady answered in the affirmative. “No further questions, Your Honor,” the city attorney said.
Georgopoulos will soon face city attorneys again when he resumes his testimony on Thursday, and the jury will head into deliberations to decide whether or not Georgopoulos deserves that hefty city payout.