A sergeant in line for a lieutenant’s position in the Española Police Department claims he was fired June 6.
Former sergeant Rick Martinez, who is suing the city for not giving him the lieutenant’s job, said he was terminated from the Department while he was out on family medical leave. He said he was fired during a meeting with Public Safety Chief Leo Montoya and Lt. Christian Lopez during which he was handed a memo stating he had voluntarily terminated himself and was asked to turn in all city equipment.
“I do have a lawyer, and I will fight this termination through the process,” Martinez said.
City Manager James Lujan said Tuesday Martinez’s claim was not true. He said Martinez was still “on the books” and employed with the city. He would not go into further detail because he said it was a personnel matter.
Martinez said he had been on leave intermittently starting April 11 because his 12-year-old daughter shattered her ankle at school and he could not leave her alone because she was immobile.
He said he returned to work, but took off for 17 additional hours over a period of two weeks at the end of May for family medical leave. He said he got paperwork from his daughter’s doctor on May 18. He said he tried showing this to Montoya over the next few days, but couldn’t meet up with him.
“I never got anything from the chief saying (the leave) was disapproved,” Martinez said.
Martinez said he got a memo May 25 stating employees on family medical leave had to leave their city vehicles at the office. City police officers are, by policy, allowed to drive their cruisers home if they live within 25 miles of the city.
“They had taken away my take-home car privileges,” Martinez said.
Martinez said he submitted a grievance May 30 to the chief based on the take-home car issue and did not get a response.
On June 6, he said he was working when he was called by dispatch into a meeting with Montoya and Lopez. He said the memo states his voluntary termination went into effect that day.
“That’s when they told me I basically abandoned my job,” Martinez said.
Martinez said the memo cited a section of the city’s personnel policy handbook related to family medical leave but he did not know what that section said.
The policy states an employee on family medical leave will be considered to have voluntarily terminated his or her employment if the employee tells the city he or she will not return to work or if the employee fails to return to work after the leave expires, except in an instance in which the employee has requested and been granted the use of any remaining leave time.
Martinez said he previously tested for the lieutenant position in March and passed the test, only to be told later by Montoya that he would not be promoted. Martinez said Sgt. Richard Gallegos also took the test, but did not say whether Gallegos passed. Montoya also would not say which sergeant earned a higher score.
Martinez and his attorney Yvonne Quintana filed a lawsuit against the city, Lujan and Montoya for breach of contract May 27, according to an online court records database. Quintana said Martinez was asking for the position and the pay that came with it. She said there was not a specific dollar amount mentioned.
Montoya said the process for filling the lieutenant position was still ongoing. He said he needed to complete other parts to it, including an interview and a scenario test.
“It’s because it’s not done yet,” Montoya said. “We’re not finished doing what we need to do.”
Quintana would not comment about what the firing would mean for her client, citing attorney-client privilege.