La Prensa News Desk

What began as backroom murmurs surrounding an off-duty holiday gathering has erupted into a full-scale legal war at Chula Vista City Hall.

Chula Vista Police Chief Roxana Kennedy has officially filed an explosive lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court against the City of Chula Vista, City Manager Tiffany Allen, and four members of the City Council. The lawsuit alleges defamation, invasion of privacy, harassment, and a coordinated conspiracy to force the region’s longest-serving police chief into a toxic, premature retirement.

Roxana Kennedy

 

The legal complaint elevates allegations first reported by La Prensa San Diego regarding a December 2025 Police Officers Association (POA) holiday party. Kennedy’s legal team argues that a lighthearted, benign interaction during a private raffle was weaponized by city officials as a pretext to systematically dismantle her unblemished 33-year career.

The center of the City’s administrative friction stems from the private, off-duty POA holiday party held late last year. According to Kennedy's attorney, Cory Briggs, a male officer participating in a high-energy dance-off for a raffle prize began performing a faux "Chippendale’s-style" striptease, eventually removing his shirt.

In what was described as a humorous, theatrical bit encouraging camaraderie, Chief Kennedy stepped forward, slipped a few dollar bills into the officer's pockets without touching him, and took a bow to roaring applause and cheers from attendees. 

Notably, City Manager Tiffany Allen and her husband, City’s Deputy City Manager Courtney Chase and her husband, the City’s HR Director, Tanya Tomlinson, and a majority of the City Council were present at the off-duty event, reportedly cheering alongside the rest of the crowd.

However, the jovial atmosphere vanished weeks later. In January 2026, City Manager Allen formally reprimanded Kennedy, claiming that multiple employees had lodged complaints about the Chief's behavior creating an unprofessional environment.

Briggs blasted the move as blatant, manufactured opportunism:

"They were hooting and hollering, encouraging her and applauding her for what she did, which was thoroughly benign. Then, a few weeks later, they took advantage of it and turned it into an excuse to reprimand her... It's just opportunism, and it's disgusting."

The newly filed lawsuit introduces a far more calculated motive behind the City’s disciplinary actions. 

Kennedy, 65, who made history as the department's first female Lieutenant, Captain, and Chief of Police, claims that City leadership used the holiday incident as administrative leverage for an entirely different agenda.

The complaint alleges that a majority block of the Chula Vista City Council had been colluding behind closed doors to oust Kennedy. According to the lawsuit, Councilmembers were "secretly vetting a younger Latino law-enforcement official in a nearby jurisdiction" to replace her, utilizing the manufactured holiday scandal to pressure her into resigning.

That official is National City Police Chief Hernandez.

Tensions boiled over to the point that the environment became "too hostile, oppressive, and toxic to remain." Following the intense friction and subsequent disciplinary threats, Chief Kennedy went on an indefinite medical leave on January 23, 2026. Assistant Police Chief Dan Peak was subsequently appointed as Acting Chief in early March to manage day-to-day operations.

The escalation to a formal lawsuit follows a series of administrative maneuvers by City Hall. In February, Briggs issued a formal evidence preservation letter, warning City staff not to delete communications that could expose an illegal plot to dump the Chief.

According to the lawsuit, the City responded to this legal warning by doubling down, launching two retaliatory workplace investigations against Kennedy—one concerning her allegations against city leadership, and another into alleged workplace harassment claims levied against her. Furthermore, the suit alleges that despite remaining on the municipal payroll, Kennedy has been punitively locked out of her city email, personnel files, and wage statements.

The internal dispute has spilled directly into public comment sessions at Chula Vista City Council meetings. A powerful coalition of regional heavyweights has emerged to publicly back Kennedy. 

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan and former San Diego U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer have both personally addressed the City Council to condemn the treatment of the Chief and praise her decades of service, while community members have begun sporting bright-yellow "KENNEDY STRONG" bracelets.

Conspicuously absent from the lawsuit’s targets is Chula Vista Mayor John McCann. Kennedy's legal team noted they have no reason to believe the Mayor was involved in the backroom efforts to force her out.

The City of Chula Vista and City Manager Tiffany Allen have unified to push back entirely against the litigation. In an official public statement, a city spokesperson declared:

“The City of Chula Vista categorically denies the allegations and will vigorously defend against them in court. The City is confident the truth will show that no wrongdoing occurred.”

Separately, Deputy Mayor Caesar Fernandez, one of the Councilmembers named in the filing, dismissed the lawsuit as "broad, unsupported, and bogus," labeling the legal action a flagrant waste of time and public taxpayer resources.

With the lawsuit now officially moving through the San Diego Superior Court, Chula Vista leadership faces prolonged judicial scrutiny over whether its actions constituted a legitimate defense of workplace decorum, or an illegal, discriminatory backroom coup against a pioneering public servant.

Briggs previously represented La Prensa San Diego Publisher Arturo Castañares in his successful lawsuit against the City of Chula Vista over the release of police drone videos. The four-year legal battle ended after the California Supreme Court upheld the ruling that forced the CVPD to release videos which had previously been shielded as investigative records. The case, known as Castañares v Superior Court, established a new statewide legal precedent to allow more public access to police records.