Latino Minneapolis police officer sues Minneapolis police department for discrimination Marco Fernández [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sergeant Giovanni Veliz, a Minneapolis Police officer, has sued the Minneapolis Police department for discrimination. According to confidential information weve received, the case goes back to October 2004, when Sergeant Veliz was relieved of his administrative duties, to assigned to night time patrol. According to a copy of the lawsuit that was provided to us, the Minneapolis Police department submitted Sergeant Veliz to harassment, disparate treatment, a hostile work environment, and retaliation from that date. The lawsuit establishes that the actions were taken against sergeant Veliz because of his insistence in raising the issue that the department had not complied with a federal mediation agreement that was entered between the Police de department and members of Minneapolis minority organizations . The mediation agreement established that the police department would diversify the police department, establish partnerships with community based organizations, and foster cultural awareness and sensitivity for Minneapolis citizens. This agreement included 82 action items that force the police department not only to incorporate Spanish speaking officers to the police force that know Latino culture, but also covers specific situations in which orders and notifications to Spanish speaking people included a Spanish translation. This agreement was reached thanks to mediation from the United States Department of Justice, Community relations office, and was supposed to have been implemented a year ago. The lawsuit also alleges that that in more than one occasion Sergeant Veliz was denied the opportunity to receive executive training in retaliation for his position in favor of implementing points of the federal mediation agreement. Veliz alleges that he was denied a promotion to police lieutenant, after having applied to the position and being qualified for the position. The lawsuit accuses lieutenant Doyle, who became Velizs supervisor in October 4th of 2005 of harassing actions and threats against Veliz. The lawsuit establishes a direct relationship between Veliz's work on behalf of the Hispanic community and a number of consistent threats, harassment and comments against Veliz. It goes even further accusing the Minneapolis police department of refusing to implement the federal mediation agreement and ignoring the federal recommendations on diversifying the police department. Sergeant Veliz has received support for his lawsuit from members of the African American community and the committee that negotiated the mediation agreement in 2003. Several members of Minneapolis communities of color will be making a public presentation of the lawsuit tomorrow Wednesday October 19th in a press conference in Ancient Market Plaza (Franklin Avenue between 11th and 13th). http://www.gentedeminnesota.com/news.php?nid=1705 Posted by Shawn Lewis, Minnetonka, MN -- ___________________________________________________ Play 100s of games for FREE! http://games.mail.com/ REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
