Police cleared in racial discrimination suit

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- Costa Mesa police officials on Tuesday said they were

pleased with a Superior Court judge’s decision to throw out a racial

discrimination lawsuit filed four years ago by a former officer.

Judge Robert Monarch on Friday ruled in favor of the police

department, ending the legal battle between the city and former Costa

Mesa Police officer Edward Gonzalez.

Gonzalez sued the department in 1996, alleging that the Costa Mesa

Police Department had wrongfully terminated him because of his race. He

was fired in 1994 after he was found to have used “excessive violence” on

a prisoner and had been “untruthful” about that incident, said Costa Mesa

Police Lt. John FitzPatrick.

Although Gonzalez was found not guilty of assault in a 1995 criminal

trial, FitzPatrick said he was terminated after an internal

investigation.

Gonzalez’s attorney, Jeff Pollak, said he was surprised at the “harsh

decision.” Gonzalez had spent years in public service and deserved a

trial, he said.

Pollak said Gonzalez has not decided if he would appeal the decision.

“It costs money,” he said. “Mr. Gonzalez has been through bankruptcy

and home foreclosure to pay his legal fees.”

The process itself was a lengthy one because the case had to go

through the city administration before it went to court, said Pollak.

“It was also a political hot potato in Superior Court,” he said. “This

is the fifth judge we’ve had in this case.”

Costa Mesa Police Chief David Snowden said the judge’s decision will

hopefully be a “final chapter in a long saga” of court battles.

“I’m happy our actions have been vindicated,” he said.

Snowden said the department understands that use of force on the job

is sometimes inevitable.

“You have to use force to overcome force,” he said. “But in this case,

it was not justified.”