Fired Calexico o cer wins reinstatement

CALEXICO – An arbitration hearing has found that one of the seven Calexico police o cers fired between late 2014 and mid-2015 under a cloud of suspicion must be reinstated by the Police Department and provided years of back pay.

Although the impartial arbitrator, identified as Robert Bergeson, acknowledged that former O cer Luis Casillas had committed “improprieties” while submitting overtime forms, the questionable actions did not warrant termination.

The misconduct was “not so pervasive as to suggest timecard fraud, but rather is the nature of sloppy or lazy reporting,” Bergeson’s report of March 9 stated.

“Although misconduct has been found in regard to Stonegarden overtime, just cause did not exist for termination but merely a 40-hour suspension,” Bergeson stated.

The arbitrator also found that Casillas did not commit any misconduct in connection to his role in a July 1, 2014, o cer-involved shooting that further warranted his termination.

The report said the city’s attempt to cite retroactively the July 2014 incident as grounds for termination appeared to have been a hedge against the possibility of the overtime improprieties being successfully appealed by Casillas.

certified by the County Clerk/Recorder or, in the case of vital records, not on security banknote paper and certified by the Imperial County Clerk/ Recorder should notify law enforcement or the Clerk/Recorder,” Storey said.

The arbitrator’s report, parts of which Casillas made available for review, acknowledged that Bergeson did not pursue all of the city’s allegations against Casillas, yet stated that such an endeavor falls to the city.

“For it is the City which bears the burden of proof here and, as will be seen, notwithstanding that the City has not hesitated to charge Appellant with culpability for the slightest error, it has acknowledged no errors of its own agents, of which there were many,” the report stated.

Seeking justice

Casillas was one of seven police officers who were fired shortly after the October 2014 hiring of former police Chief Michael Bostic. The firings also coincided with a raid on the police station by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Oct. 30, 2014, which to date has not resulted in any arrests or prosecution.

Although the rationale behind Casillas and his fellow officers’ terminations was never publicly disclosed, Bostic, at the time in question, had alluded to widespread corruption within the department.

Considering that the fired officers had formed the bulk of the Calexico Police Officers Association’s officers and executive board, Casillas said he views the firings as nothing less than union busting.

Prior to the officers’ dismissals, CPOA had been highly engaged in political activity within the city, publicly endorsing and opposing candidates for public office.

“We were retaliated against because we expressed our views and concerns about the way the government was being run,” Casillas said. “It was clear to the arbitrator that this case was about retaliation.”

Casillas’ arbitration hearing resulted in 17 days of testimony and more than 3,000 pages of exhibits, he said. His reinstatement remains pending, a delay which will likely cost the city more money the longer it takes.

“At this point, they owe me three years of back pay plus interest,” Casillas said.

A federal lawsuit that Casillas had filed against the city is scheduled to be discussed in closed session at tonight’s City Council meeting, according to the meeting’s agenda.

Casillas is also joined by seven other former officers and one current officer as plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed July 2015 that alleges civil rights violations.

Court records from that lawsuit state that four of the seven fired officers’ administrative arbitration proceedings have already been decided in favor of the city. Those same records reveal that two of those four decisions involved Rudy Alarcon and Frank Uriarte, both former sergeants.

Casillas declined to disclose which officer’s hearings have been resolved and which remain pending, citing the ongoing litigation.

A settlement conference is scheduled for June 21 in the judge’s chambers at the federal courthouse in El Centro in connection to that case. Casillas said he expects the case to be heard by a jury by year’s end.

A cash-poor city

Councilman Armando Real said the fired officers’ pending lawsuit weighs heavily on his mind and potentially poses a significant risk to the financially struggling city, which in recent months had considered laying off several firefighters as a cost-saving measure.

In May 2017, the city’s former insurance provider had settled for a total of about $2 million in two separate lawsuits brought by multiple plaintiffs alleging wrongdoing and retaliation dating back to 2013 at the Police and Public Works departments.

Although those monies did not come from the city’s general fund budget, the city did have to pay for legal fees associated with the litigation, which totaled about $1 million, Real said

Estimated costs associated with third-party investigations into the alleged wrongdoing at the Police and Public Works departments during the time in question also had amounted to about $1.5 million, Real said.

Real also estimated Casillas is due about $450,000 for back pay and benefits for the three years that have passed since the former detective’s termination.

“The sad thing is the city doesn’t have any money,” Real said.