Latino Discrimination by the Sheriff Leads to Lawsuit

Felix Garcia says his campaign to unseat Jerry Speziale as Passaic County sheriff is no grudge match. But there's bad blood between the two lawmen that goes back to 2003, when Speziale fired Garcia as undersheriff — and Garcia countered with a civil rights suit resulting in a cash settlement.

Garcia, who last week was selected by the Passaic County Regular Republican Organization to run for sheriff, claimed in his lawsuit that he was a victim of both racism and politics within the Sheriff's Department. He maintained that Speziale, a Democrat, fired him because he was both a Latino and a Republican with close ties to the former sheriff, Edwin Englehardt, a Republican.

The lawsuit, filed in February 2004 in U.S. District Court, never went to trial. Instead, it touched off nearly four years of litigation that ended when Garcia accepted a $150,000 settlement in April 2008, county records show.

As part of the settlement, both sides agreed not to disclose the terms, even though all the costs of the litigation — which could not be obtained Wednesday — as well as the settlement were borne by taxpayers. To get the amount of the settlement, The Record had to file a request with Passaic County under the Open Public Records Act.

Both Garcia and Speziale were sticking to the agreement. Speziale, through his spokesman, Bill Maer, declined to comment, citing the terms of the agreement. Garcia also declined comment Wednesday.

Garcia said he has no personal vendetta against Speziale, and won't make the lawsuit a campaign issue.
"This is not personal," Garcia said. "This is about spending. This is about how taxpayer money is being spent by the sheriff."

Garcia, 59 and a Wayne resident, works for FJC Security in Jersey City. He first started working for the Passaic County Sheriff's Department in 1972. A close ally of Englehardt, he steadily moved up the ranks and was appointed jail warden.

Englehardt stepped down in 2001, amid a series of state investigations into corruption within the department. Despite his Republican ties, Garcia supported Speziale when he ran for sheriff against Ron Fava in 2001. Speziale won the race and appointed Garcia as an undersheriff.

Only months later, Garcia became the target of a corruption probe. Investigators from the state Attorney General's Office searched his home, after receiving a tip that Garcia had used county employees to do work on his house.Speziale asked Garcia to take an unpaid leave of absence. Garcia complied.

No criminal charges were ever brought against Garcia, and he asked for his job back in August 2002, the lawsuit says. But Speziale refused, and ultimately terminated Garcia in early 2003. Garcia claimed in his lawsuit that he was terminated after he became involved in "planning and promoting" a meeting with other sheriff's officers that was critical about how Speziale treated Latinos, the lawsuit said.