Bridgeport pays $75K settlement to officer in discrimination suit

BRIDGEPORT — The city council has agreed to offer to pay $75,000 to a police officer who claims he was branded as being psychologically unfit and discriminated against after discovering the body of a fellow officer who had killed himself.

The council voted Monday night to approve the settlement proposal to Lt. Ronald Mercado who also has a federal discrimination lawsuit pending against the city.

City officials would not comment on the settlement proposal citing pending litigation.

Mercado’s lawyer in the federal lawsuit, Daniel Angelone, said the proposed settlement approved by the city council does not effect the pending lawsuit which is slated to go to trial in May. He had no further comment.

Last year the city council agreed to award Sgt. James Geremia $45,000 to settle similar claims against the city.

Both men have been members of the city’s Police Department since 2000.

On March 2, 2019, while on duty, Mercado and Geremia became aware that a fellow police officer, Sgt. Mark Belinkie, did not report for duty as scheduled. They unsuccessfully attempted to contact Belinke and then drove to Belinkie’s home in Milford to check on him. They found him dead in his home from an apparent suicide.

Soon after, then-Police Chief Armando Perez told Hearst Connecticut Media he had suspended both Mercado and Geremia without pay for not following orders in the incident. He did not specify what those orders were.

“(Belinkie’s suicide) was a critical incident,” Perez said at the time. “It has saddened and shaken all the members of the Bridgeport Police Department.”

Perez also said he’d “mandated that they see a psychologist” through the Employee Assistance Program offered to police officers in Bridgeport.

The lawsuit states that Perez discriminated against both men, perceiving them to be “psychologically disabled.”

On March 12, 2019, the lawsuit states Geremia was unjustly suspended without pay by Perez for insubordination while Mercado was unjustly suspended without pay by Perez for being absent without leave.

The lawsuit states that during roll call on March 12, 2019, Perez, among others, announced to fellow police officers that Geremia and Mercado were negligent in their duties, had been ordered to report to a psychologist and that Perez had removed their firearms from their homes in order to “protect” them and their families.

The suit states that both men had three sessions with a psychologist and were determined able to return to work. But despite being notified that they were medically cleared to resume full active duty, Perez continued to regard or perceive them as being “psychologically disabled,” the suit states.

Geremia was reassigned to animal control.

“Plaintiff’s day-to-day duties and responsibilities materialized to nothing more than feeding the various animals and cleaning the kennels of animal excrement,” the lawsuit states.

He was later assigned to the front desk at the Police Department, the suit states.

The lawsuit states that Mercado was reassigned to the department’s traffic division but he was not given any traffic duties. Instead, the suit states that Mercado’s duties were reviewing policy updates and completed required training hours. Further, the suit states the traffic division was undergoing maintenance including repainting. When Mercado complained about the odor from the work being performed, Perez moved his work desk into the hallway near the entrance to the building.

The lawsuit states Perez denied Geremia and Mercado the ability to perform their normal duties as a police officer including the ability to work overtime shifts.

Perez resigned from the police department in September 2020 after being arrested by the FBI for cheating on the police chief exam and lying to the FBI about it. He was sentenced to a year-and-a-day in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making a false statement. He was released from prison in January. He could not be reached for comment.