In a Superior Court filing three weeks ago, the fired Officer Christie Maddox said race, gender and disability discrimination were the reasons she lost her job three summers ago.
At the Root of Turmoil?
The showdown clash came only weeks after Mr. Montanio, in an upset, had been voted into the chief’s position by the City Council. He defeated the very popular candidacy of department favorite Hank Davies, to succeed the long-reigning Ted Cooke.
This result festered, insiders long have said, to the detriment of the department, and especially the new chief.
Mr. Montanio’s disputed decision in the Maddox case was the first — but far from the only — major crisis in his abbreviated 19-month term.
A Surprise
Even though Mr. Montanio spent all three decades of his career with the Culver City department, his selection for the top position was a surprise, as was his unwarned departure.
The Maddox version of Police Dept. history, as it relates to the new chief, is the exact opposite of the reading that is recalled by the defenders of Montanio.
They maintain that Ms. Maddox was caught up in an unanticipated confluence of events, meaning the change in the chief’s chair, which involved diametrically opposed personalities, philosophies and styles.
Law-and-Order Guy
“While the circumstance that Christie is talking about in each instance is complicated, there is a simple bottom-line explanation,” said one Montanio defender.
“John went by the book. Cooke almost never did. He did things his way. He took good care of Christie. She was used to being coddled. Maybe she didn’t know how to react when that was over.
“There is no question she was treated fairly by Montanio.”
Impact of a Job
One of Ms. Maddox’s leading complaints was that she was improperly removed from her temporary tour of duty with the county-wide drug enforcement agency known as L.A. Impact.
She sustained a back injury early in her career, in 1992, and thereafter appeared to draw what is colloquially known as “light duty.”
‘Light Duty’
The Montanio defenders claim that when Ms. Maddox received the L.A. Impact assignment, “there was no talk of her needing ‘light duty.’
“L.A. Impact is a cushy job. Everybody knew it. Christie was being rewarded.
“At L.A. Impact, you get a car, you get free gas. You keep your own hours. That was nice because it was not far from her home. And, nobody stands over you there.
Plum Task
“I don’t blame Christie for being disappointed, but her time was up. She should have realized that. John was not punishing her. He was just moving her back to the department after her three years were up. Cooke may have told her that she could stay there as long as she wanted. But that was informal, and that changed when Cooke retired (six months earlier).”
In her lawsuit, Ms. Maddox, who is black, said her firing was trumped up by Mr. Montanio. She charged that he “has a history of making racially derogatory comments about blacks and Hispanics.”
The Chief’s Shortcomings
“Do not misunderstand me,” said one Montanio defender. “John Montanio did not have a shortage of faults. But, let me say emphatically again that he is not a racist.
“He is, in important ways, close to the altar-boy image some people had of him. He was an altar boy, you know.
“He was also a good guy. He tried to be stern, but it didn’t really work. It is his nature to be soft. He just couldn’t go back and forth, from soft to tough, and still be effective.”
Taking the Prudent Route?
The Montanio defenders said that the suddenly-in, suddenly-out chief was undermined “every day” of his year and a half term by the bitter fumes and feuding between the rival Davies-for-chief and Montanio-for-chief factions.
“There was so much turmoil inside the department in those days that it probably would have been impossible for even a strong person to succeed as chief,” one defender said.
“The Davies people were never going to let up. For John’s sake, it probably was best that he left when he did, even if it was abrupt.”
Pushed Out
The Montanio defenders conceded what may have been a relatively minor point in Ms. Maddux’s suit, that Mr. Montanio was “forced out.”
“Yeah, you could say John was forced out,” a defender replied. “But not for the reason Christie says. It was not because of her. He needed to get away from the tremendous pressure that built up every day.
“Even with his warts, John was a 100 percent improvement over Cooke. Guys who are honest around here will tell you that. John went strictly by the book. That was a huge change for everybody in the department.
About Personality
“With Cooke, you know, everything was about him. Everything was personal. I guess Christie never adjusted to the change.”
The Montanio defenders maintain that Ms. Maddox had been “very well-cared for” by Mr. Cooke. “What she wanted, she got. She had served as a witness for the department, meaning Cooke, in a number of cases. That was a big boost for her career.
Witness Role
“She was a very, very friendly witness, which Cooke appreciated. After that began happening, she got her pick of assignments. And she would throw her weight around. This was common knowledge. This is not a revelation. See, the days of being able to do what you wanted, of getting the assignments you wanted, ended when Montanio became chief. ”
