Ceres police harassed gay teacher after making reports of homophobia, lawsuit claims
A gay teacher sued the city of Ceres, alleging a police officer threatened him at his home and flashed a gun in retaliation for reporting homophobia at Central Valley High School to school administrators.
David Cole made the accusations against school resource officer Lorenzo Beltran in a federal complaint, and last week told The Bee he struggles to feel safe after the incident two years ago. Cole added he has lost 75 pounds while dealing with insomnia and gastrointestinal issues from the distress.
The lawsuit claims Beltran and a plainclothes officer entered Cole’s gated community when school was closed for a holiday in February 2019 and ordered Cole to exit his home. Outside, Beltran allegedly questioned Cole about his reports of anti-gay student bullying, repeatedly gestured toward his gun and pressured the teacher to quit his job or go to the closed school with them.
Cole begged Beltran to leave, but the officer allegedly refused. The now 54-year-old teacher eventually ran into his home when his partner of 30 years opened the door after listening to the exchange, the lawsuit claims.
“It scares me to just look out my front door and remember it,” Cole said. “There are hedges in our front yard and I look around every hedge now when I come home.”
Ceres Unified School District fired Cole in June 2019 and paid him a $50,000 settlement a year later, according to the settlement agreement The Bee obtained through a public records request. Cole still works as a special education teacher in Stanislaus County, he said.
But Beltran continues to be a school resource officer for Central Valley, Ceres Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Keith Griebel said in an email. Beltran won an award from the National Association of School Resource Officers in June 2019, The Bee previously reported. Police made up most of the award selection committee.
Ceres cannot comment on the ongoing litigation, Griebel said. Van Longyear, attorney for the city and Beltran, said his law firm looks forward to fighting the claims and winning defense attorneys’ fees from Cole. Longyear declined to comment on specific allegations of harassment and retaliation.
“We have filed an answer to the complaint that categorically denies all claims of wrongdoing,” Longyear said in an email. “We believe that the true motive behind this scathingly defamatory complaint will be revealed during the formal Discovery phase of the case.”
Documents detail alleged bullying at Ceres school
Ceres contends Beltran did not know Cole made any complaints of gay and lesbian students getting bullied, per a joint scheduling report filed in June. The city further alleges Beltran met Cole outside his home on that Friday in February 2019 to conduct a welfare check at the request of the school district because Cole missed mandatory meetings. Ceres denies any harassment or intimidation occurred and claims Beltran urged Cole to contact the school in a short conversation, according to the court filing.
Cole’s lawyer, Julien Swanson, said he is not aware of Cole missing any mandatory meetings. Two days before the Friday encounter when school was closed, Swanson said the school put Cole on administrative suspension for an unrelated student incident. Swanson declined to answer questions about the suspension.
A week before the police meeting, the lawsuit claims Cole reported a student harassed another student, calling her a gay slur among other pejoratives. Cole had previously reported bullying on the basis of sexual orientation to administrators, the lawsuit claims. The complaint alleges the school was “riddled with and failing to address the chronic problems of homophobia and bullying.”
The district disputes Cole’s allegations but declined to comment on the specifics, Ceres Unified spokesperson Beth Parker Jimenez said in an email. Ceres Unified does not tolerate discrimination or bullying, including on the basis of sexual orientation, she added. Complaint procedures also involve an investigation and the right to appeal, she said.
“The Ceres Unified School District is committed to providing positive and collaborative learning environments that celebrate human rights, diversity, and tolerance, and in which all students can feel safe and take pride in their school and their achievements,” Parker Jimenez said in an email.
The suspension lasted until the district fired him in June 2019, Cole said, nearly a year after he began working for the district. As an administrator escorted Cole off campus, Swanson said she suggested Cole work in San Francisco or Los Angeles where he would “be a better fit.”
Cole did not sue Ceres Unified because of their settlement agreement signed in June 2020, Swanson said. In the settlement, which the district released to The Bee, Cole agreed to release the district from future claims. The district and Cole also agreed to not disparage each other.
The settlement resolved disagreements over Cole’s termination, as well as a complaint Cole filed against the district in January 2020, alleging discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
Teacher describes struggles after police encounter
Since the alleged police intimidation two years ago, Cole said he deals with depression and worry that trigger a gastrointestinal disorder and insomnia. His body frequently aches, and he has lost about 75 pounds.
Cole also worries over his partner’s safety, asking his partner to call and text him when he leaves their house. Going out in general makes Cole nervous, he said, because he fears any retaliation from the police.
Strangers standing aside him make him nervous, too. Cole wishes he could recover his sense of safety around people, adding he loves teaching and being with his community. Cole’s career in education began in about 1997 and he has worked as a special education teacher since 2006.
In the early ’90s, Cole and his partner started an LGBTQ social support group at Modesto Junior College. But after the police encounter, Cole said he stopped holding his partner’s hand in public and feels more guarded about his sexual orientation.
“Now we’re scared to even be who we are,” Cole said. “That complete turnaround in my life to go from starting Rainbow Generation, the first queer club in the Central Valley at a school, to being terrified and not wanting the police to know it’s me or know that I’m gay. That’s where I’m at: just terrified of being outside in Ceres and at home.”
The pretrial for the lawsuit is scheduled for December 2022, Cole’s lawyer Julien Swanson said.
This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
