Cite Lost Promotions, OT
Allege Finance Has Anti-Hispanic Bias

By REUVEN BLAU

Sgt. Deputy Sheriff Jeff Rodriguez and seven other Hispanic officers in the Finance Department have filed a Federal lawsuit against the agency, charging that they have been unfairly transferred to undesirable locations, denied promotions, and treated poorly because of their ethnicity.

The Chief-Leader/Michael O'Kane SEEKING EQUALITY: A group of eight officers in the Finance Department, led by Jeff Rodriguez (left), have filed a Federal lawsuit against the agency, charging that they have been treated unfairly because their nationality. The other officers pictured are: Jeffrey Rivera (center) and Dave Perez.

The litigants are seeking to force the department to compensate them with back pay for missed promotion and overtime opportunities. The employees, who hold various agency titles, are also asking the judge to order the department to stop discriminating and subjecting them to a hostile work environment.

Unwanted in Warrant Unit

"Under the Bloomberg administration, they transferred every Hispanic [except one] out of the Warrant Unit," Mr. Rodriguez alleged during a phone interview. "That was the only unit where we would get overtime."

Finance Sheriffs' main duties involve arresting individuals who have outstanding warrants and repossessing property.

"Due to pending litigation, we feel it is inappropriate to discuss the case further," said Paul Marks, the Law Department's Deputy Chief for Labor and Employment Law.

Mr. Rodriguez, who began his career with the department in 1993, said that the problems began in July 2001, after he was promoted to Sergeant and moved to the Auction Unit in lower Manhattan. His supervisors told him that all new supervisors must be transferred, Mr. Rodriguez said. But that explanation, the suit contends, was just a pretext for discriminating against Hispanics. "I was promoted with four other individuals, none of which were Hispanic, and none were transferred," Mr. Rodriguez pointed out. "I lost maybe $20,000 a year in overtime. I was devastated. You depend on that income."

Frequent Transfers

Mr. Rodriguez has since been transferred four different times, after incurring various problems in each location.

During his three-month stay in the Auction Unit, Mr. Rodriguez said his tour was changed five times. "That's like a nowhere unit," he added. "They sell vehicles that have been confiscated and not picked up."

In April 2002, he was transferred to the New York Private Sector Unit and was shortly thereafter moved to the Queens Private Sector Unit. Overtime is sparse in those divisions, which handle property seizures and civil arrests.

In August 2004, an opening became available in the Warrant Unit, according to the suit. But the department refused Mr. Rodriguez's eight requests to be placed back in that division until last October, "even though I had seniority and had knowledge of the unit."

His supervisors in the Queens unit also denied his request to change his tour to allow him to take classes toward his master's degree. Mr. Rodriguez contends that the department allowed other non-Hispanic workers to change their tours "for a host of reasons, including furthering their education."

Last October, Mr. Rodriguez was finally granted a transfer back to the Warrant Unit, after he filed a second Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint.

Two months ago, Sheriff Lindsay Eason gave a general address to the unit, and afterward opened the meeting to questions. Mr. Rodriguez said he asked his commanding officer to detail the chain of command, as several top managers had recently changed positions. The Sheriff declined to answer, according to Mr. Rodriguez.

The following day, four officers - the entire firearms and tactical unit - came to Mr. Rodriguez's house and ordered him to surrender his gun, shield, and work ID. Mr. Rodriguez, who used to supervise 20 officers, has not been given an explanation as to why his gun was taken away, and has since been ignored at work. "I'm doing nothing," he said. "They don't tell me anything."

A Different Story

He contrasted that reaction with the way the agency treated him in July 2005, when he was hospitalized for a week and put on anti-depressants due to stress at work. "Management was made aware of this," he added, noting that his gun was not removed then or when he returned to work.

Mr. Rodriguez, who has three young children and lives in Queens, said that the experience has been a nightmare. He noted that he'd received stellar evaluations from his supervisors in the various divisions, and that aside from his bout with depression, he hasn't taken a sick day throughout his entire career.

The seven other litigants in the complaint charge that the agency has also discriminated against them because they are Hispanics. They are: Filiberto Lucena, David Perez, Luis Feliciano, Jeffrey Rivera, Antonio Nieves, Carlos Vasquez, and Joseph Aparicio.