On Friday, May 15, 2026, the First District of the California Court of Appeal fully affirmed a jury’s finding that the University of California at Santa Cruz fired Lt. Glenn Harper based on illegal racial discrimination. The Court ruled that “substantial evidence” supported the verdict as to both the unlawful termination and the award of several million dollars in damages.
Glenn Harper served with the San Jose Police Department for twenty-five years, retiring as a lieutenant. He was happily enjoying civilian life when he was recruited by Chief Nader Oweis to help professionalize the UCSCPD. However, Harper’s arrival at the department garnered resentment from certain quarters. He was the only African American on the small force and came in as the second-in-command. When Lt. Harper attempted to discipline a supervisor who had botched an overnight assault with a firearm investigation, the sergeant retaliated against him by filing a number of spurious complaints. Despite the support of Chief Oweis and a favorable Skelly hearing decision, a mid-level university administrator fired Glenn.
The Alameda County jury took only three hours to reach the unanimous decision that the Regents had discriminated against Harper and that he had suffered $7.2 million in damages. The trial court reduced the damages to $6.2 million finding that that number was “more reasonable.”
In upholding the verdict, the Court of Appeal, issued a lengthy opinion, concluding that,
these factual circumstances, and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, substantially support the jury finding that Harper’s race was a substantial motivating factor in the decision to terminate his employment…
We are not persuaded that [the sergeant’s] complaints were not racially motivated. The Regents characterize his complaints as a “natural response” to the way Harper treated [the sergeant], and they posit that the untrue derogatory statements that [the sergeant] made about Harper during the IA investigation showed only that [he] disliked Harper. Suffice it to say, the jury was not compelled to draw such conclusions from the evidence. After listening to and observing the demeanor of [the sergeant], Harper, and other witnesses at trial, the jury could reasonably have concluded that racial bias was a substantial motivating reason for [the] complaints.
With mandatory interest and attorneys’ fees, Glenn’s recovery will far surpass even the original damages award.
RLS Managing Principal Harry Stern teamed with veteran civil rights attorney John Scott to try the case. The jury heard evidence over the course of a month in Alameda County Superior Court Judge Victoria Kolakowski’s courtroom.
Harry handled the appeal including drafting the successful responsive brief and arguing the case. RLS Attorney Jason Campbell assisted with editing, proofreading and round-tabling legal issues. The unanimous thirty-seven-page Court of Appeal opinion was issued by the District’s Third Division, headed by Presiding Justice Allison Tucher.
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