Diego

*342 The City of Los Angeles (the City) appeals from a judgment against it following a jury trial in a discrimination action brought by two officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD or the Department). The two officers, George Diego and Allan Corrales (the Officers), respondents in this appeal, are both Hispanic. They claim that they suffered discrimination within the Department following their involvement in a fatal shooting in March 2010. In that incident, the Officers fired at a person they believed was threatening them with a gun, but who turned out to be a young, unarmed African-American man who was later described by his family as autistic. The shot fired by Corrales killed the man. The Officers claimed that they were unfairly kept out of the field (colloquially described as "benched") after the incident, resulting in lost promotional opportunities and off-duty work, because of their race. They also claimed that the City retaliated against them because they filed this lawsuit.

The jury found in favor of the Officers and awarded cumulative damages of almost $4 million. The City argues on appeal that the evidence is not sufficient to support the verdict, and that…