Former San Diego lifeguard wins discrimination suit

SAN DIEGO  — A federal jury has ruled against the city in a discrimination lawsuit filed by a female lifeguard who said she was repeatedly overlooked for promotion because of hiring practices that discouraged the advancement of women.

Alison Terry, 37, one of the greatest high school swimmers in

San Diego history, sued the city in 2006 after working for 14 years as a seasonal lifeguard and being repeatedly rejected for a coveted full-time position. She later resigned in 2009 out of frustration.

A jury unanimously ruled Friday that the city’s lifeguard service discriminated against women and awarded $100,000 in damages to Terry. She responded by filing a motion Tuesday for injunctive relief, asking the federal court to force several changes to how the city hires lifeguards.

Terry is the fifth female lifeguard to sue the city in recent years for discrimination but is the first to win a verdict. The previous four settled out of court.

Terry, now a swim instructor who lives in Clairemont, called the legal battle “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done” and said she hopes the victory paves the way for future women to advance in the department.

“It was never about the money,” she said. “It was about the city of San Diego, and specifically the lifeguard service, really taking these complaints seriously and making a real effort to make some changes. That’s all this is about.”

Jonathan Heller, a spokesman for the City Attorney’s Office, said the city’s lifeguard service has new leadership and implemented mandatory management training to address the issue.

“Just to be clear, the ruling was not that the city currently discriminates against women,” Heller said. “The case was brought by one plaintiff whose claims arose out of events that began in 2003 and ended by early 2006. The jury verdict was based upon the lifeguard service’s practices during that period of time only.”

Terry’s attorney, Michael Conger, who will seek attorney fees of more than $1 million from the city, said the city made some changes in response to his previous lawsuits but little has improved for women lifeguards.

“She sued basically to try to get it to stop and really to help women that come after her,” he said. “She didn’t want anybody to ever have to go through what she had to endure.”

During the trial, Conger noted that out of the 94 full-time lifeguard positions there were only six women, or 6.4 percent. Meanwhile, nearly 27 percent of the 200 seasonal lifeguards — hourly workers with no benefits hired during the summer months — were women.

Conger argued there were four main roadblocks for women to advance beyond seasonal employment. First, the city used subjective performance reviews of employees that favored men. Second, certificates to operate a personal watercraft were required for promotion but access to the department’s vehicles was limited for women. Third, male lifeguards were urged to take non-required courses to improve their resumes while women weren’t. Finally, the other hurdles led to higher-ups being exclusively male.

Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, which oversees lifeguards, referred calls to the city attorney.

As a high school swimmer at the former University of San Diego High (now Cathedral Catholic), Terry dominated the sport and was named Swimmer of the Year by area coaches in 1990 and 1991. At one time, she held six individual records in the San Diego section. She later competed nationally and has served as swimming coach at three area high schools.