San Francisco must pay $325,000 in damages to a disabled sheriff's deputy who was forced into retirement without being told there were jobs available that he could perform, says a state appeals court.

A Court of Appeal panel Thursday upheld a jury's conclusion that the Sheriff's Department had discriminated against Torey Lovett by failing to make a reasonable accommodation for an ankle injury that limited his ability to walk.

Lovett, hired in 1991 as a guard at the county jail, was shot in the ankle in 1993 while coming to the aid of a neighbor who had been shot. Lovett returned to work after surgery and a year of physical therapy but found he could no longer walk the jail floors for eight hours a day without pain and was given a series of jobs in parole, job training and other areas that required little walking.

In 1999, the department eliminated his job and told him he had to return to his jail position or retire.

In its ruling, the court noted the Lovett protested but was told no other jobs were available; in fact, positions in counseling, computers and other fields, for which he was qualified, had vacancies, but no one told him about them before his disability retirement was approved in mid-1999.

The jury awarded Lovett damages in 2002, mostly for past and future wage loss. The city appealed, arguing that Lovett was not qualified to be a deputy sheriff because his injury prevented him from performing the essential duties of the position. But the court said Lovett had performed those duties successfully for more than five years and could have continued if the department had taken reasonable steps to accommodate him.

The court also rejected the city's argument that Lovett's future pension benefits should have been deducted from the verdict, which would have virtually eliminated his damages. State law provides for deduction of only the amount paid up to the time of trial, which leaves the damages at $325,000, the court said.

Lovett, now 35, lives in Hercules and does social work for Contra Costa County, said his attorney, David Anton.

Alexis Truchan, spokeswoman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera, said the city was disappointed with the ruling but would not appeal further. "We believed the city did everything possible to accommodate Mr. Lovett,'' she said.