LA County Fire Dept. Disability Discrimination Case Settled

Case Background

This landmark civil rights and wrongful death action stemmed from a tragic confrontation that resulted in the death of Melyda Corado on July 21, 2018, in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. The decedent’s father, Salvador Albert Corado, acting individually and as a successor-in-interest, and her brother, Albert J. Corado, filed the suit against the City of Los Angeles and two Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers, Sinlen Tse and Sarah Winans, among others. The Plaintiffs claimed the officers’ actions during a pursuit and subsequent shooting were unlawful and had directly caused Melyda Corado’s fatal injury. The city and its officers had faced immediate public scrutiny after the incident, which reportedly involved the officers shooting at a suspect and inadvertently striking Ms. Corado, who was inside a Trader Joe’s market.

Cause

The lawsuit established its legal foundation on multiple counts arising from the actions of the LAPD officers.

Federal Civil Rights Violations (42 U.S.C. § 1983)

The Plaintiffs charged the officers with violating Melyda Corado’s constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. They claimed the use of deadly force against the fleeing suspect was excessive and that the officers acted with deliberate indifference to the safety of the public, which had proximately resulted in Ms. Corado's death. The complaint specifically accused the officers of an unreasonable seizure, asserting the shooting itself represented an extreme use of force without legal justification or necessity.

Wrongful Death and Negligence

The Corado family also pursued state-law claims, asserting wrongful death against all Defendants. The officers, while acting within the scope of their employment, had supposedly failed to exercise reasonable care when they initiated the high-risk shooting, exhibiting negligence that directly led to Ms. Corado’s death.