An eight-member jury returned a unanimous verdict Wednesday of more than $15 million for two employees who sued the city of Fresno over racism in a hostile workplace.
The jury of four men and four women awarded plaintiff La-Kebbia “Kiki” Wilson with $15 million and co-plaintiff Charles Smith with $400,000, agreeing with them that they were retaliated against and victims of racism in the city’s code enforcement department.
Wilson, who is Black, said she was targeted by a supervisor because of her race and went out of his way to make her time at work difficult. She shed tears as the verdict was read in court.
The size of the verdict may look large, she said, but it does not compare to what she lived through. She said she believed city officials were more interested in protecting each other than investigating her claims.
“I prayed every day, not for a judgment or dollar amount or to be victorious with a dollar amount,” she said outside the courthouse. “I prayed every single night, every morning I got up to come this trial, let the city be exposed for who they are.”
Her co-plaintiff, Smith, said he was also a victim mistreatment because of his connection to Wilson. Smith, who is white, wiped tears from his eyes outside the courthouse.
“Justice prevailed,” he said.
Much of the trial circled around a time in July 2018, when Smith told Wilson about language he’d heard from a supervisor in the city of Fresno’s code enforcement department.
Smith testified he felt torn about his friendship with the supervisor, Howard Lacy, and the remarks the supervisor was saying about Wilson, including calling her an “entitled (N-word)” and claiming she played the race card to her benefit.
On another occasion, Lacy described Wilson as “lazy and a piece of sh–.”
During his testimony, Lacy denied ever using those words. An internal investigation came back without finding he had used the word, according to testimony.
The reveal of the use of the N-word was followed by Wilson loudly exclaiming that the higher ranking city officials were “all f—-ing liars” as she walked through the hall of the code enforcement division. She was disciplined for her outburst.
During his closing statement, the employees’ attorney, Kevin Schwin , said the city’s actions defied logic as Wilson was disciplined for using the F-word, but the supervisor received no repercussions after he was accused of using the N-word.
During the city’s investigation of Lacy, they also investigated Wilson. As the victim of that incident, she should not have been under investigation, Schwin said.
“We proved our case, and the city of Fresno never took this case seriously,” he said. “They fought it for over seven years in court, and we finally had our day in court and justice prevailed.”
Wilson and her attorney noted the judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Kirk E. Sherriff , did not allow evidence they said they believed strengthened their case, including a Confederate flag and a racist depiction of President Barack Obama.
The city of Fresno’s contracted attorneys argued Wilson was not reprimanded for her language, alone, but for a series of interactions in which city employees found her to be aggressive.
Former City Attorney Doug Sloan, who now is Fresno County counsel, and former Human Resources Director Jeff Cardell, who now works for Fresno Housing Authority, defended their actions when they each testified in the 10-day trial.
Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz issued a statement following the verdict. He thanked the jury and the judge, noting his comments are limited because the litigation could continue.
Councilmember Mike Karbassi also left the door open for a potential appeal.
“I want to be very clear that this all happened under a different administration, when code enforcement was not under the direction of the city attorney and City Council,” he said in a statement. “If this judgment is upheld, there will be tough decisions ahead if we’re going to balance our budget.”
“While I am very sensitive to the allegations, I also have a responsibility to protect the financial well-being of our current public employees who provide vital services to the public,” Karbassi said.
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 7:01 PM.
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