A jury has awarded $8.4 million in damages to a former white police officer who said he was subjected to reverse discrimination by a Korean American supervisor, finding the City of La Palma responsible for failing to prevent discrimination based on race and national origin.
The lawsuit, which was filed almost exactly two years ago, has resulted in a Jury verdict ordering the City of La Palma and its taxpayers to pay $8.4 million to Ross Byer, a former police officer who made the reverse discrimination claim.
Petronelli Law Group filed the lawsuit on behalf of Ross Byer, a white police officer at the City of La Palma, who accused the city of race discrimination, retaliation, and failure to prevent discrimination and retaliation.
In a statement issued shortly after the verdict, the firm said, “On December 9, 2025, an Orange County jury returned a verdict in favor of our very deserving client, Ross Byer, for $8.4 million in a difficult reverse discrimination and retaliation case in which we waived economic damages.”
Peter Kim, La Palma’s City Manager, said on March 5 that “the City of La Palma is aware of the recent decision in the case Ross Byer vs. City of La Palma. We take this matter seriously and are reviewing the matter to determine the appropriate next steps,” he said in an email statement to ENE.
While Kim was recently appointed as City Manager, all of the activities alleged to have occurred in the lawsuit happened during the administration of the city by former City Manager Conal McNamara, who resigned to take a job in Whitter, CA.
“As this litigation is ongoing, the City will not provide further comment,” Kim said in his reply to ENE.
In fact, the City filed an appeal on March 27 following a ruling in December that, according to trial documents and Jury poll, they found the city guilty of discrimination against former police officer Ross Byer.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff, Ross Byer, joined the La Palma Police Department in May 2022. His initial performance evaluations were positive, but he said conditions changed after he was assigned to work under Sergeant Won Koh, a Korean American supervisor.
In his lawsuit, Byer alleged Sergeant Koh favored Korean American officers on the same shift and assigned Byer a heavier workload. Byer reported what he described as discriminatory treatment by Lieutenant Jesse Amend, Sergeant Koh’s superior, on two occasions in January 2023 and February 2023. Byer also alleged that Sergeant Koh said he “wanted a police organization made up entirely of Korean Americans.”
Police department records disclosed during the trial showed that Sergeant Koh rated Byer’s performance as “needs improvement” even though Byer’s patrol activity was nearly identical to that of his Korean American partner.
Byer claimed the evaluation resulted in a wage freeze. The records also showed that Sergeant Koh had previously issued negative evaluations to two other white officers, one of whom was later fired.
Amid concerns that he might also be terminated, Byer left the La Palma Police Department on June 1, 2023. One week later, he met with a City of La Palma Human Resources official and raised allegations of discrimination, retaliation, and instructions involving racial profiling.
Byer said Sergeant Koh directed officers to target black drivers for traffic stops. Records showed that these statements were forwarded to senior city officials, but it appeared that no separate investigation was conducted.
Byer later filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for emotional distress, alleging discrimination and retaliation based on race and national origin, as well as failure to prevent discrimination. His legal team initially sought $14 million in damages. The City of La Palma argued that Byer’s emotional distress stemmed from the 2020 death of his daughter and said any damages should be limited to $35,000, yet offered $75k to settle.
The jury instead awarded $3.92 million in past damages and $4.48 million in future damages, for a total of $8.4 million.
While the city has now officially appealed the case, the verdict has already been denied a request for a “retrial,” with Superior Court Judge Kimberly A. “Kate” Knill found Amend and Koh “lacking in credability,” documents show.
“The defendants have not established juror misconduct,” the court papers say, adding that the court “will not interfere with the verdict.”
This case is notable as a rare reverse discrimination lawsuit in Orange County, highlighting issues of workplace fairness, retaliation, and the legal protections available under California employment law. The verdict demonstrates that claims of discrimination and retaliation are actionable regardless of the plaintiff’s race, say experts.