A black Glendale police officer this week filed a lawsuit claiming on-the-job discrimination, making it the second time in less than a month that a Glendale police officer has filed suit.

Officer Tyrone Hunter filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Tuesday. He says he was unfairly taken off a top narcotics investigative assignment and put back on patrol.

Hunter, who joined the Glendale police force in 1992, claimed in his lawsuit that despite winning professional accolades for his work, he unfairly received negative work reviews that prevented him from advancing within the department.

“Mr. Hunter had numerous derogatory racial terms…used against him,” said Sybil Leung, a spokeswoman for his attorney, Carney Shegerian.

City Atty. Scott Howard acknowledged that his office had been served with Hunter’s lawsuit, but had not fully read through the allegations. Still, he said he noticed some of the accusations in the lawsuit did not include specific dates.

“We are still reviewing the case,” Howard told the Glendale News-Press, adding that the city planned to defend the suit vigorously.

Earlier in May, Officer Marc Mendoza filed a separate lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging that he was recently demoted from detective to patrol officer because of his friendship with Sgt. Vahak Mardikian, one of the five plaintiffs in a separate discrimination case filed in January.

Mardikian filed a joint lawsuit Jan. 20 in U.S. District Court with Sgt. Tigran Topadzhikyan, Officers John Balian and Robert Parseghian, and former Officer Benny Simonzad that alleged years of derogatory comments, discrimination and harassment.

Shegerian also represents the four officers and former officer in their lawsuit.

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