Harden

San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) and Benjamin K. Dabalos (Dabalos), defendants below, appeal from a judgment entered against them following a jury verdict finding them liable for false arrest and imprisonment of respondent George Harden (Harden). We affirm.

I

Harden, a Black man, first came to work for BART as a police officer on or about September 25, 1972. Prior to that time, Harden had worked in the military police as an enlistee in the Air Force (1961-1969), and as a deputy in the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department (1969-1972).

Evidence was offered to show that while he was employed by the BART Police Department, Harden was subjected to racially motivated harassment by some of his superior officers, particularly Captain Tommy Sowell. Harden had difficulties obtaining promotions or raises despite the fact that his work received very positive evaluations from other supervisorial personnel. Over the course of Harden’s employment with BART, Sowell had instigated several investigations of Harden. None of these investigations resulted in any criminal findings or charges being brought against Harden. Several BART police officers who supervised Harden…