Mistrial on
Firefighters' Harassment Claim

Four San Diego firefighters who sued their city after being ordered to participate in the 2007 gay pride parade will not receive damages after a San Diego County superior court jury was unable to reach a verdict. The jury deliberated almost four days before announcing a deadlock, according to the Los Angeles Times.

One juror told reporters that they were one vote short of getting the required nine votes needed to decide a civil case. The jury would have favored the firefighters.

Charles LiMandri, who represented John Ghiotto, Jason Hewitt, Alex Kane, and Chad Allison, said the outcome was "extremely frustrating." A new trial has been set for January.

The four claim they were sexually harassed by parade watchers, including a group of "radical homosexual men" dressed in nuns' habits and others who yelled, "You're making me hot!" and "I can't breathe, give me mouth-to-mouth!" One firefighter, Hewitt, also said he received a poor performance review after filing a complaint about the parade, the Associated Press reported. The jury rejected that claim by an 11-1 vote.

While the lawsuit did not specify how much they sought in damages, LiMandri asked the jury to award between $500,000 to $1 million to each firefighter.

City attorney Michael Aguirre said the lawsuit was about greed. However, Ghiotto told the Times, "It was never about any money." He also said, "For me, I believe it was a win because we stood up for what we believe in." (Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)