‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Crew Member Sues LAPD For Racial Profiling After Wrongfully Pulling Him Over At Gunpoint In Front Of Cast & Crew

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Crew Member Sues LAPD For Racial Profiling After Wrongfully Pulling Him Over At Gunpoint In Front Of Cast & Crew

A Disney production assistant working as a shuttle driver for “Grey’s Anatomy” has sued the city of Los Angeles and members of the LAPD for $20 million! This stems from a 2021 traffic stop in which he alleges he was racially profiled and held at gunpoint in front of the show’s cast and crew. Ernest Simon Jr.,31, who is a Black male, says that after he dropped off crew members near a Tarzana, CA set–where the population is more than 70 percent white– he was wrongfully pulled over. According to the lawsuit filed Thursday (Mar.18), officers told Simon an automated license plate reader had linked the plates of the vehicle he was driving to a stolen BMW sedan. However, Simon was driving a Ford van rented by Walt Disney Co.

At the time of the incident, Ernest Simon was driving back to a parking lot that the show was using as its “basecamp” when officers began following him. According to the 34-page complaint, the officers pulled Simon out of the vehicle at gunpoint, forced him to lie on the ground for 20 minutes, called for backup and double-handcuffed him, even though he showed no resistance and was fully cooperative. A security guard at the lot’s entrance told the officers that Simon was a crew member, however, officers still approached Simon with their guns drawn. Reportedly, when a white co-worker went to the officers and reiterated that Simon was authorized to drive the rented van and that they had the wrong person in handcuffs, they finally let him go.

In the federal lawsuit, Ernest Simon is alleging a dozen violations of his constitutional rights, including unreasonable search and seizure, assault, arrest without probable cause, racial profiling, excessive force, negligence, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The creator of ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ Shonda Rhimes told sources that what happened to Simon was ”beyond unacceptable’‘ and expressed her support for the employee.

Shonda Rhimes

The LAPD has yet to comment on the lawsuit!

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[Sources: 1, 2, 3 ]