The city of Fresno would be on the hook for about $5 million if leaders chose not to appeal a recent $15.4 million discrimination verdict, but the city would also be at risk of losing its insurance coverage, the city manager confirmed on Monday.
Councilmember Miguel Arias on the day after the March 11 verdict said the city should not fight the $15.4 million decision by a jury in federal court, which sided with ex-employees and plaintiffs La-Kebbia “Kiki” Wilson and Charles Smith.
The two former employees testified Wilson was subjected to racist treatment by other employees and the city’s highest ranking administrators fumbled the response.
The city’s insurance coverage at the time of the incidents in the lawsuit filed in 2019 requires the city to pay $3 million in “self-insured retention” before the insurance picks up the next $10 million, according to City Manager Georgeanne White.
The city would then be required to pick up the balance so that’s a bill of about $5.4 million if the city were to choose not to fight the $15.4 million judgment handed down March. But, White said the city needs to be careful on whether to appeal the decision.
“I must tell you, we run the risk of losing coverage and control of our lawsuits if we don’t appeal the decision,” White said in a text message.
The city’s contract does not require it to appeal the decision, White said, but city leaders are required to use the “utmost good faith and diligence in claims handling.” She said the contract gives the insurance company the right to take over defense and settlement of all claims against the city.
“If they have to take over the defense that puts us in a precarious position of being able to renew our policy or get a new policy with the same terms as our current policy,” White said.
Local residents at the last City Council meeting implored the city to accept the settlement. That included Cynthia Sterling, the president of the San Joaquin Valley chapter of the Black Women Organized for Political Action.
“The (San Joaquin Valley Chapter) respects the decision of the federal jury and ask the city of Fresno to respect the federal jury’s decision and refrain from pursuing an appeal,” Sterling said during Thursday’s meeting.
The Fresno City Employees Association, which paid for the lawsuit, did not respond immediately to a request for comment Monday afternoon.
A federal jury of eight awarded Wilson, who is Black, $15 million and $400,000 to Smith, who is white, after a 10-day trial that ended March 11. The amount the city spent on contracted attorneys from Whitney Thompson & Jeffcoach LLP and any other defense during the case, which began in 2019, was not immediately available.
Wilson’s attorney, Kevin Schwin, said on the day of the verdict the city’s largest offer to settle was less than $400,000 for both of them. Wilson declined to give an amount for which she would have considered settling.
From left: Attorney Kevin Schwin, Charles Smith, La-Kebbia Wilson and George Wilson, La-Kebbia Wilson’s husband, pose outside the courthouse on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, after receiving the verdict of more than $15 million in the hostile work environment case. THADDEUS MILLER tmiller@fresnobee.com
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Reporter Thaddeus Miller has covered cities in the central San Joaquin Valley since 2010, writing about everything from breaking news to government and police accountability. A native of Fresno, he joined The Fresno Bee in 2019 after time in Merced and Los Banos.