A federal jury agreed with three Yellowstone County sheriff’s officers that they were discriminated against after their superiors retaliated against them for filing human rights complaints and grievances.-db
Free speech: Yellowstone sheriff deputies win judgment
http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_1257f8c0-9683-11df-9fb4-001cc4c03286.html
Billings Gazette
July 23, 2010
By Matt Hagengruber
A federal jury awarded nearly $1 million in damages to three Yellowstone County sheriff’s officers after finding that their commanders discriminated against them and retaliated against them when they complained.
In a verdict read shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, Deputy Chris Romero was awarded $348,333, while Deputy Roger Bodine and Civil Transport Officer Dave Valdez were each awarded $298,333. The verdict came after more than four days of testimony in Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull’s courtroom.
Attorneys for the three men said Yellowstone County will also be responsible for paying attorney fees, which should push the final cost of the lawsuit to the county to well over $1 million. It’s not yet known how the county will pay the damages, and Deputy County Attorney Kevin Gillen declined to comment after the verdict was read.
The jury found that Sheriff Jay Bell, Capt. Bill Michaelis and retired Capt. Rico Brennan discriminated against the three officers, although not because the three are Hispanic. The jury also found that Bell, Michaelis and Brennan retaliated against the officers because they were involved in human rights complaints and grievances.
The verdict broke down this way:
• The three officers were harmed as a result of the discrimination and retaliation and were awarded $100,000 each in damages.
• The jury also found that Bell and Michaelis tried to dissuade the officers from exercising their free speech rights, and the actions were a practice and custom of the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office. As a result, each officer was awarded $150,000.
• The jury said the violations of the officers’ free speech rights were committed by Bell, Michaelis and Brennan. The jury imposed punitive damages against Bell in the amount of $100,000, against Michaelis in the amount of $15,000 and against Brennan in the amount of $30,000. Each officer will be awarded an equal share of the total $145,000 in punitive damages, or about $48,000 each.
• The jury found the Sheriff’s Office breached its duty by failing to adhere to the state Human Rights Act and failed to fix any employment problems. As a result of that failure, Romero was awarded another $50,000 in compensation.
The officers filed their lawsuit in 2006 after Romero lodged a state human rights complaint and Bodine and Valdez agreed to provide witness statements on Romero’s behalf. The officers said commanders reacted harshly and sought to crush any dissent from them and others. They claim that they have faced retaliation and harassment ever since.
Before the jury read its verdict, Cebull cautioned each side to maintain composure. After the verdict, the three officers had tears in their eyes. Bell, Michaelis and others representing the county showed no emotion. Brennan had been in court all week, but wasn’t present for the verdict.
A few minutes later, the officers said outside the courthouse that they were proud of the jury for doing the right thing.
“I feel vindicated and feel like justice was served here today and the process worked,” Romero said. “Hopefully, things will change in the Sheriff’s Office where everyone is treated equally.”
Romero and Bodine said they plan to continue working at the Sheriff’s Office, but Bodine said he might leave if Bell is elected to a four-year term in November. Challenging Bell is Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Linder, who made a brief appearance Thursday as a witness called by the officers’ attorneys.
“This has been a long process, and we had some bad things said about us,” Bodine said. “This (verdict) says we did the right thing. For five years of our lives, we’ve had to put up with this stuff and had these (commanders) looking at us the way they look at us.”
Valdez said he didn’t yet know if he would stay with the Sheriff’s Office, but said he felt vindicated by the verdict.
“We got to give (our story) to someone and they believed us,” he said. “I never believed that four sentences on a witness statement would get me to a federal trial.”
The three officers said they were surprised to receive the verdict so quickly, saying that they had been called to the courthouse to answer a question for the jury. Instead, Cebull appeared in the courtroom and said the jury had finished after about five hours of deliberations.
Earlier in the day, each side summed up its case during closing arguments. Romero’s attorney, Tim Kelly, said commanders have shown “complete indifference” to the truth and to their own policies that prohibit discrimination and retaliation against officers.
“This has been no fluke,” Kelly said. “Retaliation is a time-honored tradition in the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office.”
Representing the county, Gillen told the jury that no one has ever found any pattern of discrimination or wrongdoing among commanders in the Sheriff’s Office.
“What’s odd is that the very people who hired these (plaintiffs) are now being sued,” Gillen said. “Sheriff Jay Bell, Capt. Bill Michaelis and Rico Brennan always did the right thing at the right time and for the right reason.”
It was unclear whether Bell, Michaelis and Brennan will be personally responsible for the punitive damages assessed against them or if the county will pay.
Gazette reporter Greg Tuttle contributed to this story.
Copyright 2010 The Billings Gazette, Billings, MT
A federal jury agreed with three Yellowstone County sheriff’s officers that they were discriminated against after their superiors retaliated against them for filing human rights complaints and grievances.-db
Billings Gazette
July 23, 2010
By Matt Hagengruber
A federal jury awarded nearly $1 million in damages to three Yellowstone County sheriff’s officers after finding that their commanders discriminated against them and retaliated against them when they complained.
In a verdict read shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, Deputy Chris Romero was awarded $348,333, while Deputy Roger Bodine and Civil Transport Officer Dave Valdez were each awarded $298,333. The verdict came after more than four days of testimony in Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull’s courtroom.
Attorneys for the three men said Yellowstone County will also be responsible for paying attorney fees, which should push the final cost of the lawsuit to the county to well over $1 million. It’s not yet known how the county will pay the damages, and Deputy County Attorney Kevin Gillen declined to comment after the verdict was read.
The jury found that Sheriff Jay Bell, Capt. Bill Michaelis and retired Capt. Rico Brennan discriminated against the three officers, although not because the three are Hispanic. The jury also found that Bell, Michaelis and Brennan retaliated against the officers because they were involved in human rights complaints and grievances.
The verdict broke down this way:
• The three officers were harmed as a result of the discrimination and retaliation and were awarded $100,000 each in damages.
• The jury also found that Bell and Michaelis tried to dissuade the officers from exercising their free speech rights, and the actions were a practice and custom of the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office. As a result, each officer was awarded $150,000.
• The jury said the violations of the officers’ free speech rights were committed by Bell, Michaelis and Brennan. The jury imposed punitive damages against Bell in the amount of $100,000, against Michaelis in the amount of $15,000 and against Brennan in the amount of $30,000. Each officer will be awarded an equal share of the total $145,000 in punitive damages, or about $48,000 each.
• The jury found the Sheriff’s Office breached its duty by failing to adhere to the state Human Rights Act and failed to fix any employment problems. As a result of that failure, Romero was awarded another $50,000 in compensation.
The officers filed their lawsuit in 2006 after Romero lodged a state human rights complaint and Bodine and Valdez agreed to provide witness statements on Romero’s behalf. The officers said commanders reacted harshly and sought to crush any dissent from them and others. They claim that they have faced retaliation and harassment ever since.
Before the jury read its verdict, Cebull cautioned each side to maintain composure. After the verdict, the three officers had tears in their eyes. Bell, Michaelis and others representing the county showed no emotion. Brennan had been in court all week, but wasn’t present for the verdict.
A few minutes later, the officers said outside the courthouse that they were proud of the jury for doing the right thing.
“I feel vindicated and feel like justice was served here today and the process worked,” Romero said. “Hopefully, things will change in the Sheriff’s Office where everyone is treated equally.”
Romero and Bodine said they plan to continue working at the Sheriff’s Office, but Bodine said he might leave if Bell is elected to a four-year term in November. Challenging Bell is Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Linder, who made a brief appearance Thursday as a witness called by the officers’ attorneys.
“This has been a long process, and we had some bad things said about us,” Bodine said. “This (verdict) says we did the right thing. For five years of our lives, we’ve had to put up with this stuff and had these (commanders) looking at us the way they look at us.”
Valdez said he didn’t yet know if he would stay with the Sheriff’s Office, but said he felt vindicated by the verdict.
“We got to give (our story) to someone and they believed us,” he said. “I never believed that four sentences on a witness statement would get me to a federal trial.”
The three officers said they were surprised to receive the verdict so quickly, saying that they had been called to the courthouse to answer a question for the jury. Instead, Cebull appeared in the courtroom and said the jury had finished after about five hours of deliberations.
Earlier in the day, each side summed up its case during closing arguments. Romero’s attorney, Tim Kelly, said commanders have shown “complete indifference” to the truth and to their own policies that prohibit discrimination and retaliation against officers.
“This has been no fluke,” Kelly said. “Retaliation is a time-honored tradition in the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office.”
Representing the county, Gillen told the jury that no one has ever found any pattern of discrimination or wrongdoing among commanders in the Sheriff’s Office.
“What’s odd is that the very people who hired these (plaintiffs) are now being sued,” Gillen said. “Sheriff Jay Bell, Capt. Bill Michaelis and Rico Brennan always did the right thing at the right time and for the right reason.”
It was unclear whether Bell, Michaelis and Brennan will be personally responsible for the punitive damages assessed against them or if the county will pay.
Gazette reporter Greg Tuttle contributed to this story.
Copyright 2010 The Billings Gazette, Billings, MT
