Department justified in firing first woman officer, panel decides.
By Steve Wartenberg, The Morning Call (Allentown, Penn.)
The Pennridge Regional Police Department won a long legal battle Friday with former officer Madeline Cruz, the department’s first female and first Hispanic officer.
In U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, a five-man, three-woman jury ruled for the department in all three contentions of Cruz’s lawsuit: that she was fired because of her race; that she was fired because of her gender; and that she was terminated in retaliation for complaining to her superiors about racial and sexual harassment.
“I’m pleased by the verdict and it’s good to move on,” said Pennridge Chief David Mettin, who joined the department three years after Cruz was fired by Chief H. Randall Dilling.
Dilling is now chief of the Miami Springs, Fla., Police Department.
Cruz was hired as an intern by the Pennridge department in May 1998 and was hired as a full-time officer in September, with a one-year probationary period that was later extended.
She was fired by Dilling in November 1999.
Despite the defeat, Cruz, 33, of Telford, found a silver lining.
“The jurors felt they didn’t have enough direct evidence,” she said. “But my purpose was to let the Pennridge community know what happened to me … and that I did nothing wrong. I also did it for all the women out there who go through these tough times and have to make it in a man’s world. In other words, I won.”
Cruz and her lawyers said they are not sure if they will appeal.
The five-day trial included accusations by Cruz that she was the subject of offensive cartoons, the butt of sexual jokes and innuendo, and was called “the nice colored girl” for weeks after an elderly couple referred to her as such in a letter thanking Cruz for her help after they were in an accident.
Early in the trial, Judge Robert Kelly said: “This is very prejudicial testimony and whether a jury can separate it … that’s what we’ll ask them to do.”
The jury needed to do this because, as Pennridge’s attorney Malissa Sill stated in her closing Friday morning, “This is not a case about sexual harassment … We’re here to decide if Ms. Cruz was terminated because of her race or her gender or because she complained about harassment. I say no to all three.”
Kelly instructed the jury that the reason he allowed the testimony was because Cruz “must show her complaint was reasonably based on fact.”
“I was absolutely concerned the jury wouldn’t be able to do that,” Sill said after the verdict. “But the jury made the right decision.”
Rosemary Pinto, one of Cruz’s attorneys, is convinced Pennridge’s officers “closed ranks” during the trial to protect the department and hide much of what really happened and what her client had to endure.
“It’s not just police officers, any organization does that,” she said. “People don’t want to put their own jobs in jeopardy, especially if they are still employed by the organization.”
One officer who did speak for Cruz was Harry Hallman.
He corroborated Cruz’s testimony that officer Patrick Karcher told her over the phone that the chief wanted “something” from her and that even though he was old he still wanted “something” from her.
“I took that to be sexual in nature,” Hallman said.
He also corroborated Cruz’s statement that Sgt. Rodney Blake said he’d have to watch out she didn’t “do” Lt. William Sutton.
“He’s got integrity and is an honest officer,” Cruz said of Hallman, adding she thinks he could suffer repercussions for his statements.
Damaging testimony to Cruz’s case came Thursday, from Joe Stine, former chief of the New Britain Township Police Department.
Cruz was reprimanded during her tenure with the department for turning in accident reports late, misplacing a log book, receiving traffic citations while on vacation in Puerto Rico, and for deficiencies in her firearm skills.
“Any one of these things would have been grounds for dismissal in a probationary period,” Stine testified. “It appeared she had multiple deficiencies. It was just a series of things.”
Other Pennridge officers testified Cruz failed to un-cock her gun before returning it to her holster and once, while trying to un-jam her gun, pointed it at a fellow officer.
During his closing, Bradley McDermott, Cruz’s second attorney, tried to establish a time line showing that his client received nothing but good evaluations until she complained about her treatment from fellow officers.
“There are a lot of suspicious things about the timing,” McDermott said. “There is evidence that Madeline had to go and then we get the supporting evidence and that’s why there was a paper chase after this time.”
Sill countered that Cruz was looked at more closely than her fellow officers because she was on probation.
“During your probation you’re supposed to get better as it goes along, not worse.”