A jury on Tuesday agreed that four firefighters were sexually harassed in the 2007 San Diego LGBT Pride Parade by spectators and participants, but only awarded them $5,000 each in damages for emotional distress.

The total damages they awarded come to $34,300, which does not come close to the attorneys’ fees, costs, depositions and other expenses paid so far by their attorney Charles LiMandri. LiMandri acknowledged his expenses and costs have exceeded $1 million.

The eight-woman, four-man jury also awarded $14,200 for past and future lost earnings to John Ghiotto, who was transferred from the Hillcrest station to another station, where he no longer works as a paramedic.

The jury also awarded $100 in past medical expenses to Chad Allison, which represented the co-pay amount he paid for seven therapy sessions. Captain Jason Hewitt and firefighter Alexander Kane were each awarded $5,000.

“The amount itself is not important,” LiMandri told reporters outside the courtroom. “We’re very pleased with it. We won every issue. What happened to my clients was wrong.”

The firefighters testified in two civil trials that they were ordered to drive a fire truck in the 2007 San Diego LGBT Pride Parade with less than 24 hours notice after another crew dropped out. They said they saw simulated sex acts, men wearing underwear, and were subjected to comments, such as “let me blow your hose” during the parade through Hillcrest.

“The damages are extremely low,” Deputy City Attorney Don Shanahan said. “For the amount they were claiming for harassment and the claimed injuries they set forth at trial – that’s extremely minimal.”

“We are pleased with the low damages,” said Deputy City Attorney Kristin Zlotnik, who represented the city in both trials.

“I’m obviously disappointed,” Shanahan said. “There’s certainly going to be an appeal.”

Fire Chief Tracy Jarman testified she ordered the parade policy changed just days after the 2007 parade after meeting with the four firefighters. Only volunteer firefighters now appear in the parade.

Shanahan argued to jurors the policy was changed before the lawsuit was even filed.

A jury deadlocked last October when it could not get nine jurors to agree that sexual harassment had even occurred to the firefighters. LiMandri had asked jurors in the first trial for $4 million, but his figure was criticized in closing arguments by then City Attorney Mike Aguirre.

This time around, LiMandri did not set a figure for damages in his closing argument. Several jurors commented that they didn’t think money was an issue, so they kept the figures low. One juror said the highest award they considered was $10,000 per firefighter, but they could not get enough votes for that.

“We all played around with numbers until we all agreed,” one juror said.

“They made it clear they weren’t out for a lot of money,” another juror said.

Ron de Harte, the Executive Director of San Diego LGBT Pride, gave this reaction when he heard of the damages: “This mini-sized award that came out today just says a lot about how much the jury felt the firefighters were wronged.”

The city, however, could be on the hook to pay for LiMandri’s fees. He is likely to bring a motion to San Diego Superior Court Judge Timothy Taylor for the city to pay his fees, since the city did lose the case. The City Attorney’s office will oppose such a motion.

The firefighters are all married and several said the parade was not something they supported. They all have Catholic backgrounds, but did not testify about their beliefs.

Ghiotto was the only firefighter who commented after the verdict.

“The money was never an issue for us. We were not out there on our own. We were forced out there,” he said.

“It was more important for my clients from the beginning to set a precedent to show what happened to them was wrong,” LiMandri said. “It should never happen to any other firefighter in the county. It’s a wake-up call for all government agencies.”

Jurors only asked one question during their deliberations and wanted Taylor to give them a legal definition of the word “harm.” Taylor told jurors to consider instructions already given and to “apply your common sense.”

All 12 jurors approved of the damage figures and answered “yes” to the legal question of whether the plaintiffs were “subjected to unwanted harassing conduct because of their gender.” However, only nine jurors agreed the harassment was “severe or pervasive,” with three of the four male jurors not in agreement with that.

Ten jurors agreed that the firefighters’ work environment during the parade was “hostile or abusive,” and that the city should have known of the harassing conduct during the parade. Ten jurors also agreed that the city “failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the harassment.”

One male juror said the split in votes on the questions were by sex. He added, “the females went one way and the males went another way.”

Seven of the eight female jurors voted in favor of the firefighters in every legal question. Jurors raised their hands to confirm their votes before the verdict was recorded on all nine questions.

Allison testified he had six or seven therapy sessions with a counselor. He said he discussed arguments with his wife, estrangement from a gay uncle because of the lawsuit and money troubles with the therapist. On cross-examination, Shanahan asked him why was he discussing things with the therapist not related to the parade.

“We had an hour to kill,” Allison replied.

Hewitt testified he received a threatening phone call on his voicemail after he filed a claim with the fire-rescue department. “Boo hoo, boo hoo, poor fireman. Can’t stand being harassed by homosexuals. Watch your back,” Hewitt claimed the caller said.

Shanahan characterized the four as “self-absorbed” individuals who “were so focused on themselves.” He argued the men were upset and angry, but not humiliated. He said “not one person came forward to say these men” were targeted by any spectator or participant. Shanahan said it was not “the parade of horrors.”

“These guys have seen dead bodies, shootings, horrific accidents. But some guy says ‘show me your hose’ and they require counseling,” Shanahan said in his closing argument.

After the verdict was reached, jurors, attorneys and firefighters all agreed on one thing. “I’m glad it’s over,” they repeatedly said.