Elias Georgopoulos’s lawsuit against the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency ended on May 23, 2025, when a San Francisco Superior Court jury unanimously rejected every one of his harassment and discrimination claims and awarded him zero damages. The former parking control supervisor had sought millions in lost wages, pension benefits, and emotional distress damages, alleging the SFMTA targeted him over his race, national origin, and disability. The jury deliberated just over two hours, a window that included lunch, and never asked to review any trial evidence.1Mission Local. Day 12 of SFMTA Trial
What Georgopoulos Alleged
Georgopoulos worked for the City and County of San Francisco for roughly 24 years, about 22 of them in SFMTA parking enforcement, where he rose to parking control supervisor. He is Latino, stands five feet six inches tall, and has rheumatoid arthritis that causes a noticeable limp. He left the agency in 2020 after a confrontation with Shawn McCormick, the director of parking enforcement, and filed suit against the SFMTA around 2021 under case number CGC22597804.2Mission Local. Day 10 of SFMTA Trial
He alleged that coworkers and supervisors mocked him for his height, his limp, and for speaking Spanish in the office, and that a coworker was told to shout “English only!” at him. The central allegation was that during a heated argument in July 2020, McCormick called him a “spic.” McCormick denied ever using the slur.3Mission Local. Day 5 of SFMTA Trial
Georgopoulos also testified that McCormick directed him to concentrate parking enforcement in the Mission, Bayview, and Excelsior neighborhoods because, Georgopoulos alleged McCormick said, “those people don’t know how to fight City Hall.” McCormick testified he did not recall using those words. Former SFMTA deputy director James Lee corroborated the targeting allegation in a sworn deposition and said McCormick was known for personally writing 50 or more citations in two hours, despite ticket-writing not being part of his job description.4Mission Local. SFMTA’s Parking Boss Targeted Minority Neighborhoods
Georgopoulos said he began wearing a body camera in 2017 to deter workplace bullying. McCormick consulted city attorneys, implemented a policy banning body-worn cameras, and began writing Georgopoulos up for non-compliance. Georgopoulos testified he filed numerous complaints that went unanswered and that he was labeled “insubordinate” for demanding respect.3Mission Local. Day 5 of SFMTA Trial
His psychologist, Dr. Elliot Henderson, testified that despite Georgopoulos’s diagnosed paranoid personality disorder, he found the slur allegation “credible” and described the SFMTA as a “toxic environment.” Henderson said the alleged slur was a “predominant and identifying issue” in Georgopoulos’s mental state.5Mission Local. Day 7 of SFMTA Trial
How the City Defended the Case
The city’s defense, led by Deputy City Attorney Nancy Harris, argued that Georgopoulos had no credible evidence for his claims and that the lawsuit was a response to his own history of workplace misconduct and discipline. The defense presented evidence that Georgopoulos had been running an unauthorized mobile notary business while on duty, earning more than $400,000 from it between 2020 and the trial.2Mission Local. Day 10 of SFMTA Trial McCormick testified he would have recommended firing Georgopoulos for insubordination had he not resigned.6Mission Local. Day 6 of SFMTA Trial
A line of former coworkers testified that Georgopoulos was the aggressor at work. Joyce Nelson, a payroll clerk, said he stalked and screamed at her in a hallway, banged on a door while she hid in another office, and frightened her enough that she spent the night at a friend’s house. Lloyd Glover, who witnessed the confrontation, testified, “I believed he could physically harm someone.” Parking enforcement officer Kynattah Hill said she feared for her safety while pregnant. Claudio Pubill described watching Georgopoulos try to force his way into McCormick’s office while shouting that he would “kick his ass.”7Mission Local. Day 9 of SFMTA Trial
Sterling Haywood, the officer Georgopoulos had accused of bullying him, testified that Georgopoulos “routinely yelled at and harassed Black subordinates” and specifically targeted Black women. Virginia Harmon from the SFMTA’s Equal Employment Opportunity office testified that she did not recall receiving the “crippled faggot” allegation Georgopoulos said he had raised. She acknowledged a complaint from him about a coworker calling him “short,” which she categorized as a policy violation but not an EEO matter.2Mission Local. Day 10 of SFMTA Trial
The Verdict
The case was heard before Judge Daniel Flores. An initial trial that began on April 25, 2025, ended in a mistrial on May 1 due to jury scheduling conflicts, and a retrial began days later with plaintiff’s attorney Eduardo Roy and city attorney Amy Frenzen delivering fresh opening arguments on May 6.8Mission Local. Day 3 of SFMTA Trial On May 23, 2025, after 12 trial days and roughly two hours of deliberation, the jury found unanimously for the SFMTA on every claim, concluding Georgopoulos had not been harassed on the basis of race, national origin, or disability. Damages: zero.1Mission Local. Day 12 of SFMTA Trial
The Prior Cases the Jury Did Not Hear
Judge Flores ruled during the trial that incidents before 2017 were inadmissible, but Georgopoulos had been named in city-paid litigation for well over a decade. By August 2012, ABC7’s I-Team reported that the city had spent approximately $1.2 million defending and settling cases involving him.9ABC7 News. San Francisco Parking Supervisor Lawsuits and Costs
The Tow Truck Driver
In February 2008, Georgopoulos followed a tow truck driver who had dated his ex-wife to a city tow lot, pepper-sprayed him, threw him to the ground, and broke his wrist. Georgopoulos claimed self-defense; a jury rejected it. The city was ordered to pay the victim $64,000, and defense costs reached $735,000.9ABC7 News. San Francisco Parking Supervisor Lawsuits and Costs
The Lathrop Sexual Harassment Suit
In September 2010, parking officer Bertha Lathrop sued Georgopoulos and the city, alleging he followed her on her ticket route, used his supervisory access to obtain her personal information, called her cell phone late at night while intoxicated, and touched her repeatedly at an office Christmas party. She said he responded to her rejections with threats and suspensions. An MTA deputy director issued a stay-away order that Lathrop said the department failed to enforce. A supervisor who went to the city’s whistleblower unit called the situation “terrifying” and said Georgopoulos had threatened to write Lathrop up if she would not “go out with him or give him a kiss.”10ABC7 News. San Francisco Parking Supervisor Complaints The city settled with Lathrop for $127,000, barred her from future MTA employment as a condition of settlement, and ran up a total taxpayer bill of $282,000. The case was dismissed with prejudice in October 2011.11UniCourt. Bertha Lathrop vs. City and County of San Francisco
The Tanabe Restraining Order
In March 2011, parking control officer Brian Tanabe sought a restraining order against Georgopoulos, citing a pattern of harassment going back to 2004 and an incident the day before the filing in which Georgopoulos allegedly blocked his path at work, yelled obscenities, and rammed his chest into Tanabe’s. Judge Ellen Chaitin granted the order, denied Georgopoulos’s cross-petition, and required him to stay at least 50 yards from Tanabe, his vehicle, his home, and his workplace, with a two-yard exception at the shared office. The California Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District affirmed in September 2012, finding substantial evidence of harassment and criticizing Georgopoulos’s appellate brief for a “complete disregard for settled principles of appellate review.” Tanabe was awarded attorney fees for defending the appeal.12CaseMine. Georgopoulos Restraining Order Appeal
The Abudiab Federal Suit
In 2009, limousine driver Amjad Abudiab filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of California against Georgopoulos, the City and County of San Francisco, and Antonio Parra, alleging assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and excessive force under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Case No. 4:09-cv-01778).13GovInfo. Abudiab v. City and County of San Francisco, Motion Order Abudiab alleged that after a road rage encounter, Georgopoulos sprayed him in the face with city-issued pepper spray and punched him in the head at a Taco Bell; a witness told reporters the driver was “backing away” at the time.10ABC7 News. San Francisco Parking Supervisor Complaints In June 2010, the court ordered the city to produce all documents from any city agency about complaints involving Georgopoulos’s violent or threatening behavior, including whistleblower unit records.14GovInfo. Abudiab v. City and County of San Francisco, Order Re Motion to Compel In September 2011, Judge Jeffrey S. White denied summary judgment on the excessive force claim, finding “material questions of fact,” and the court established that Georgopoulos was undisputedly not a peace officer under California law.15GovInfo. Abudiab v. City and County of San Francisco, Order Re Motions for Reconsideration
Court records also reflect that a separate coworker obtained a restraining order against Georgopoulos in 2011, with the judge in that proceeding citing testimony about a “pattern of unpredictable violent behavior.” Georgopoulos was diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder in 2012.16Mission Local. Day 11 of SFMTA Trial An earlier complaint from 2000 came from Linda Colfax, then a deputy public defender, who called Georgopoulos a “rogue officer” and alleged that after she criticized his driving in a city vehicle, he tailed her for over a mile, swerving and yelling obscenities through her window.10ABC7 News. San Francisco Parking Supervisor Complaints
Where Things Stand
As of mid-2025, there is no public record of Georgopoulos appealing the jury’s verdict or initiating new proceedings against the SFMTA.