Discrimination Lawyer Escapes Sanction for ‘Guard Chihuahua’ Remark

A California judge has refused to sanction a discrimination lawyer who called a Hispanic defense team assistant a “guard Chihuahua” during a courtroom lunch break.

On Friday, Judge Barry Good denied a defense motion to sanction lawyer Stephen Jaffe, the Contra Costa Times reports.

Lawyer Stephen Jaffe said he wasn’t aware of the assistant’s ethnicity and he was joking about the assistant’s defense of courtroom property, the article says. Jaffe wrote the judge that his remark was "wholly devoid of any intentional racial content, slur, innuendo or suggestion."

Jaffe was representing six black police officers suing for discrimination. Jurors ruled against the plaintiffs on April 10, according to a prior Contra Costa Times story.