A Village of Chama department supervisor who was fired for his alleged involvement in an alcohol-fueled brawl at work may sue now that the Village Council upheld his termination.
The Council voted at a special meeting Sept. 8 not to reinstate former Village Streets Department Supervisor Jonathan Madrid after a violent altercation July 2 that ended with one village employee hospitalized and another arrested. Madrid and the two other employees, whom Madrid was in charge of supervising, were fired in July by Mayor Archie Vigil.
Madrid has denied participating in the fight, saying he only broke up an altercation between the two village laborers, Nathan Rivas and Luis “Popeye” Lopez.
Brandt Milstein, Madrid’s Santa-Fe based attorney, said he believes Rivas and Lopez concocted a story implicating Madrid after the fact in hopes of saving their jobs.
“This guy was a good employee who did the right thing and he got fired for it,” Milstein said.
Rivas, 29, reported being beaten by Madrid and Lopez, 23, at the Village Streets shed, according to a police report. After the incident, Rivas was taken to Española Hospital with lacerations, bleeding and swelling to his face, back and torso.
Lopez was arrested and charged with assault and battery on a household member, an apparent reference to the fact that Lopez and Rivas are cousins. Lopez has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges and is set to go on trial Oct. 7 in Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court, an online court records database states.
Both Rivas and Lopez were reportedly under the influence of alcohol during the incident, and Lopez said Madrid bought the workers vodka and beer that day.
“He didn’t buy any alcohol for those guys — that’s crazy,” Milstein said.
Madrid declined to comment for this story.
Councilor Billy Elbrock said he didn’t believe Madrid took part in the fight, other than breaking it up, but he thought Madrid did a poor job of supervising his employees and keeping them from drinking at work. Elbrock said the Village has received numerous complaints of workers drinking on the job in the past.
“I think (Madrid) has been aware of these goings on for quite some time,” he said.
The Council held the hour-long hearing for Madrid in closed session. After returning to open session, the Council voted 4 to 1 not to reinstate Madrid, with only Councilor Milnor Manzanares opposing.
Manzanares said he respected the Council’s vote, but he wasn’t convinced Madrid did anything wrong.
“In this day and age when the economy is as bad as it is, I wouldn’t support termination for anybody if it can be avoided,” Manzanares said.
Vigil said he couldn’t comment on the case because the village could be entering litigation. Councilor Darren DeYapp also declined to comment.
Milstein said Madrid made it clear during the Sept. 8 hearing he would file a lawsuit claiming wrongful termination if the village didn’t rehire him.
“It will be a matter of whether he has the money to sue the village,” Milstein said.
Milstein said there wasn’t sufficient reason to fire Madrid, and the Village didn’t follow the correct process when terminating his employment. Milstein claims the Village never held a pretermination hearing, during which Madrid would have been able to plead his case to the Council prior to being fired, therefore violating his rights as a public employee.
Village Clerk Victoria Gonzales said the village has hired three temporary workers — Albert Gonzales, Austin Elwess, and Robert Martinez — to staff the Streets Department until full-time replacements are hired.