LOS ANGELES - Civil charges were leveled against the City of Irvine by labor union Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters and union representative John Tafoya for allegations of constitutional and federally protected rights violations.
According to documents filed on Feb. 12 in Los Angeles federal court, the plaintiffs have displayed labor dispute banners on public Irvine sidewalks vocalizing disapproval in automotive manufacturer Rivian's involvement in the dispute. The union has allegedly been peacefully displaying banners for years.
The plaintiffs replaced the banner with a new one, which still voiced the disapproval of the labor dispute and also questioned the safety of the neighborhood given that there were sex offenders in the area and provided a QR code to Meghan's Law.
The plaintiffs say that the city disapproving of this sign that questions the safety in Irvine demonstrates favoritism and discrimination in free speech, since the city allows its own free commercial speech and certain flags. Irvine has never claimed its Sign Ordinance over the union's banners before, or threatened fines or criminal charges, until the banner that challenged the neighborhood safety.
The union filed one count of declaratory relief, one count of violation of constitutional rights and one count of violation of federally protected rights.
The Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters and Tafoya are represented by Daniel Shanley of DeCarlo and Shanley of Los Angeles. The plaintiffs are seeking judgment against the defendants for actual and punitive damages and an order to the city to cease its claims regarding the sign.