Former
Quincy cop settles for $250,000
QUINCY — A former Quincy police officer with multiple lawsuits against
the city has agreed to drop them all in a $250,000 settlement that included an
apology from Mayor Jim Hemberry.
The agreement with Aaron Doyle, dated June 4, resolves two federal
lawsuits claiming retaliation and wrongful termination, two Grant County
lawsuits over failure to release public records, an action before the Public
Employment Relations Commission and a lawsuit in California over release of
sealed documents from Doyle’s previous employment.
It also settles any claims or lawsuits filed by the city against Doyle.
Doyle’s issues with the city started in November 2007 — three months
after joining the force — when he stopped a Quincy resident who fled from the
scene and led him on a high-speed chase ending at the man’s residence.
The man escaped to his home, where several of the man’s family members
had gathered outside. Doyle felt threatened so he did not pursue an arrest at
the time. The next day, he got an arrest warrant, but claims that then-Police
chief William Gonzales pressured him and the prosecutor to drop the case.
Doyle eventually got the city to investigate the incident, and claimed
in his first lawsuit that he was denied a promotion because of it. “We offered
to settle this case the day the lawsuit was filed, for an agreement that they
promote me, and agree to cease any further retaliation, and they said, ‘No,’”
he said in an interview this week.
In February 2011, Police Chief Richard Ackerman fired Doyle after eight
months on administrative leave following a series of other incidents within the
police department, including a claim by Doyle that he had seen a police
sergeant assault his step-son at the police office, and that Ackerman
wrongfully took him off the regional drug task force.
In a second federal lawsuit filed last August, he claimed wrongful
termination for speaking out about police misconduct and corruption.
Quincy Mayor Jim Hemberry said he wouldn’t even hazard a guess how much
money the city has spent in all these lawsuits.
On Monday, Sierra County Superior Court in California issued a decision
awarding Doyle attorney fees of $84,497 after prevailing in that case, and
notes that Quincy’s attorney fees and costs in that action alone was “in excess
of $100,000.”
Hemberry said he couldn’t discuss whether those or other costs were
covered by the settlement, which includes language preventing him from talking
about it.
He said the city council agreed in a special session earlier this month
to pay $112,500 of the settlement. The rest will be paid by the city’s
insurance pool, according to a story in the Quincy Valley Post-Register.
In the settlement, the city and Doyle also agreed, among other things:
That the payment is not to be construed as an admission of liability by
any party.
That the parties are prohibited from discussing any details of the
settlement.
That the mayor would issue a letter of apology to Doyle.
In that letter, Hemberry wrote, “The city will not tolerate any unlawful
retaliation against any of its employees, and to the extent you feel like you
were retaliated against the city is truly sorry.”
It also says that the city has made changes in its disciplinary process,
including training of command staff, use of outside investigators when needed,
and precautions to be sure internal investigations protect employee rights.
Doyle said he hasn’t gotten the letter, and he questioned what’s
changed. “We’ve seen no change, and until the constituents of that city step up
and demand accountability from their police department and their city council,
we’re going to see no change,” he said.