A judge has ordered a former Santa Rosa police captain to pay $32,000 in sanctions to the city for its costs to defend his wrongful termination lawsuit, but the amount is only a third of what the city sought.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, in a July 12 ruling, ordered Jamie Mitchel or his attorney to pay $31,600 to Santa Rosa. The city wanted $108,700.
In April, Illston dismissed Mitchel's complaint, which argued that he was fired illegally because the city wanted to appease several police department employees who had complained about discriminatory treatment under former Chief Ed Flint and Mitchel, his second-in-command.
Mitchel was fired in 2008, and Flint was forced out by the former city manager. The city has spent about $1 million to get rid of the police managers, buy out the complainants and pay for additional training within the department to correct internal problems. Exact figures were unavailable this week.
Mitchel said this week he will appeal the sanctions payment, which is due by mid-September and payable by him or his lawyer, Scott Lewis of Santa Rosa. "You bet I'm going to appeal," he said. "I'll go to the Supreme Court. This issue is bigger than Jamie Mitchel. It's now an erosion of the Peace Officer Bill Of Rights."
City Attorney Caroline Fowler was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
Mitchel, 55, has argued that his rights were violated, he was discriminated against because he is a white man and that his arbitration hearing was improperly handled.
The city paid the six complainants a total of more than $120,000 to resolve their grievances, which included complaints alleging gender discrimination, harassment and retaliation by Flint. All four complaints named Flint, and two named Mitchel.
No lawsuits were filed by the employees, some of whom no longer work for the city.
After parts of Mitchel's suit were dismissed last year, Illston tossed out the remainder this spring. The city sought sanctions against Mitchel and his attorney for what it argued were frivolous claims.
City-paid lawyers submitted paperwork seeking more than $108,700 in legal fees, including rates ranging from $421 an hour for the lead attorney to $136 an hour for a paralegal.
The judge ruled only costs incurred to fight the most recent amended complaint, filed in February, were recoverable, about a third of the total.
Mitchel's attorney filed an appeal, which will move the case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal for further briefing and a hearing. It was unclear whether the order to pay the city's costs would be stayed pending the appeal.
Staff Writer Lori A. Carter can be reached at 762-7297 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.
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