Feeding stray cats is often seen as harmless or even kind, but that wasn’t the case in this California incident involving the LAPD. Detective Field Supervisor Teresa Irvin has filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, claiming she faced retaliation after reporting her LAPD commanding officer. According to Irvin, the officer regularly used work hours to care for a group of stray cats, even going home to cook food specifically for them. She viewed this as misconduct and reported the behavior. Afterward, she allegedly received multiple write-ups and was reassigned to another division.
According to court documents, the City of Los Angeles wanted the judge to use something called the McDonnell Douglas framework, which is usually used in retaliation cases. The court went along with it at first and ruled in the city’s favor. But while the case was being appealed, the California Supreme Court stepped in and said that because this is a whistleblower case, a different legal approach should be used. That means the case isn’t over yet and will continue under the right set of rules.
Despite the intriguing nature of the lawsuit, it didn’t gain much attention until a Redditor shared details about it. While Irvin believes she is in the right, many online users feel the LAPD officer may be overreacting. “Why is this even a lawsuit? This is a personnel matter that should be handled by management,” one Redditor commented.
The general consensus seems to be that while the commanding LAPD officer wasn’t entirely blameless, suing over the issue may not have been the right course of action. “I obviously don’t know all the details, but is taking care of a family of feral cats while being paid really any worse than sitting in a car playing on your phone while getting paid?” one user questioned.
To be fair to Irvin, her case is less about the officer feeding the cats and more about the retaliation she faced after reporting it. As one Redditor put it, “A whistleblower case suggests there may have been retaliation. Whistleblowers are protected under the law, and if retaliation occurs, the matter can’t be handled internally.”
Even so, Irvin didn’t win over many Redditors, especially since cats are beloved on the internet. Many still felt that using a lawsuit over such a small matter was an overreaction. “More cops should be taking care of cats on shift,” one Redditor commented.
