Commission Dismisses Claim of Discrimination Against Avon Police Department

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has dismissed a former police officer's complaint that the Avon Police Department discriminated against him when he was fired because of a medical condition.

Gary Cruz, 44, of Agawam, MA, had filed a complaint on April 25, 2010 in connection to his Aug. 3, 2009 termination, according to William Vernile, Avon human resources director. Before his termination, Cruz informed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that Avon Police Chief Mark Rinaldo had told him on March 31, 2009 not to return to work until he received medical clearance. This was after he had delivered a physician's note to Vernile stating that he could not perform his duties as a police officer.

A second opinion on April 15, 2009 agreed that Cruz could not serve as a police officer, but said he could perform administrative duties.

"He claimed that he was discriminated against by the town," Vernile said. "[The EEOC] evaluated his claim, reviewed the town's response and concurred that there was no violation of the law."

Cruz had alleged that he was discriminated against because of a disability, according to a letter the commission sent to him on Feb. 14, and that he was "retaliated against for having requested a reasonable accommodation, in violation of the American Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as amended."

The commission determined that the town had not broken any laws in terminating him.

Robert L. Sanders, area office director for the commission, wrote in a letter to the town, "Based upon its investigation, the EEOC is unable to conclude that the information obtained establishes violations of the statutes. This does not certify that the respondent is in compliance with the statutes. No finding is made as to any other issues that might be construed as having been raised by this charge."

Vernile declined to comment on the details of Cruz's health condition and the town's reaction to the decision.

Cruz requested a "permanent administrative assignment" in hopes of staying with the department while recovering, working on accreditation papers for the department while he could not serve in the field, according to Vernile.

"If in that assignment, he would not have been able to respond as an officer because of his physical condition and because of that, he was terminated," Vernile said.

There are no permanent administrative positions in the department, Vernile said, and he also said that two of Cruz's physicians provided the town with information that "confirmed he could not specifically perform the functions of a police officer." The physicians did not indicate to the town that Cruz would be able to serve as a police officer again, based on his health condition.

"I don't think there was consensus that he would have been fit to perform them again," Vernile said, based on the physicians' evaluation of Cruz's medical condition.

The Avon Police Department was honored on March 27, 2010 with a Flagship Award for Service Excellence and Professionalism and meritorious accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Association. After Cruz's termination, he alleged that in September 2009, the town hired an outside consultant to work on the accreditation paperwork and that Patrol Officer Lisa Petkis was reassigned from patrol duties in December 2009 to work on the accreditation full-time until April 2010. Cruz told the commission that her "patrol shifts were filled by overtime due to the hole it created."

"While Patrol Officer Lisa Petkis was reassigned to the accreditation, this was only temporary, and with the understanding that she could be called for active patrol duty if and when needed (something you could not do), Sanders wrote to Cruz. "Her work on accreditation was in addition to her performing her duties of a patrol officer if needed and in fact, once the accreditation process was finished, she resumed her patrol duties on a full time basis."

He added that while the department had hired an independent consultant to work on the accreditation process in September before Petkis worked on the project, the consultant worked for a private company and was not a town employee, so she was not "similarly situated" to Cruz.

"[The] respondent's position that there was no administrative position vacant to which you could be reassigned as a reasonable accommodation is corroborated by evidence obtained during the investigation," Sanders said. " The respondent was left with no alternative but to terminate you and allow you to apply for long term disability benefits."

Sanders wrote in his letter to Cruz that under the ADA, "an employer should first look at whether or not an employee with a disability can perform the essential functions of her job with reasonable accommodations. That is, can modifications or adjustments be made to the individual's current position to allow them to perform the essential functions of the job.

"However, reasonable accommodation does not require an employer to reallocate essential functions of a job in order to make a job doable. Thus, it is clear that there would be no possible accommodation which would have allowed you to perform the essential functions of a patrol officer."

Sanders further explained that the commission can investigate only complaints that occurred within 300 days of the date the complaint was filed. Because Cruz filed a complaint in April 2010, the only issue he raised that was timely enough to be under EEOC jurisdiction was his termination, not anything that happened before June 30, 2009.

Patch could not reach Cruz for comment Thursday, but he told The Hartford Courant that he thought the commission's decision was fair. There has been no report of possible further litigation on Cruz's end, though he is still in communication with his attorneys about what happens next, The Courant reported.

Leon Rosenblatt, Rinaldo's attorney, said, "Chief Rinaldo is happy with the result and happy it is over."

He added that though Cruz's reaction to the commission's decision was "a respectful thing to say" and he assumed "that means the end of the issue."