Aspiring cop, missing fingers, may win $35K in UCF lawsuit

A man missing the fingers on his left hand sued and is on the verge of winning a $35,000 settlement after he accused the University of Central Florida of not hiring him for a police job because of his disability, according to records.

A notice of a settlement was filed last month in Orange Circuit Court stemming from the 2012 lawsuit filed by Nicholas Pachota.

UCF denied the discrimination allegations but decided it was in the school’s best interest to end the legal fight, according to a draft settlement agreement.

In 2010, Pachota applied for a law enforcement job on the university police force where as part of the hiring process, job applicants were required to complete a test where they shot firearms with their left and right hands, his lawsuit said. It was the first year UCF required the skills test for candidates, according to the lawsuit.

Pachota held the gun between his left hand and his chest to complete the test, according to a 2011 complaint he filed with U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A UCF police lieutenant disputed that he successfully fired the gun without using both hands.

UCF didn’t hire him for the job though he was capable of doing the work, he argued. Pachota, who was already certified by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Police Academy, accused the university of having requirements for the job that discriminated against him, he said in the lawsuit.

Over the years, he built a career in public safety, including working as a paramedic and firefighter in Brevard County and teaching EMS in Sarasota County schools, according to his LinkedIn page.

In 2016, he was a team leader for the State Medical Response Team that assisted people dealing with Hurricane Matthew, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

“Nick Pachota is one unstoppable machine,” Juan Atan, battalion chief at Orange County Fire Rescue, wrote on Pachota’s LinkedIn page. “I have known Nick for many years and what I have learned from working and seeing Nick is that no task is [too] big.’’

Pachota, his attorney and UCF officials did not respond to messages for comment.