A former Los Angeles police captain fired after an internal investigation determined he gave false statements regarding a relationship with a civilian employee is seeking reinstatement as well as back pay and benefits, alleging he was denied due process.
Ex-Capt. Alejandro Vargas’ Los Angeles Superior Court petition states that the LAPD Board of Rights panel upheld only one allegation, that being his allegedly untrue statements regarding his reputed association with a police dispatcher. The board found him not guilty of another count and the case was reduced after other allegations were found to be time-barred, the petition states.
“A false-statement allegation carries uniquely grave consequences for a peace officer and frequently becomes the driving basis for termination,” according to the petition. “If LAPD suspected Vargas of dishonesty, pursuant to LAPD Policy, the assigned investigator was required to give him notice, confront him with alleged inconsistencies and permit him to clarify or explain the statements during the investigation.”
The LAPD failed to follow due process, according to the petition.
A representative for the City Attorney’s Office did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the petition filed May 12.
The Internal Affairs notification to Vargas referred to alleged “misconduct by a department employee in the form of detrimental workplace behavior,” but the “vague and generic description failed to provide meaningful notice that he was allegedly being investigated for engaging in a sexual, intimate, romantic, dating or otherwise inappropriate relationship with a subordinate,” according to the petition.
The notice also did not inform him that his responses and denials during the interrogation could later be “transformed” into a dishonesty or false statement allegation, the petition further states.
“The record demonstrates that the alleged relationship accusation — already deemed out of statute by the department’s own documentation — became the driving force behind the investigation, interrogation strategy, credibility determinations and eventual termination decision,” the complaint alleges.
The petition also contends that the department failed to provide Vargas a “constitutionally adequate Skelly hearing,” a reference to a pre-disciplinary due process procedure in California that guarantees permanent public or civil service employees the right to respond to proposed termination, suspension or demotion before the disciplinary action is finalized.
Vargas is asking that the termination be set aside and that he be reinstated to his previous position or to an equivalent one, with back pay. His petition states that even if he is not reinstated he should receive back pay and benefits.