[PHOTO CREDIT: TheHomeDepot.com]
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[Original Publish Date: 10/10/19]
MOUNT DORA, Florida – An African American employee has filed a civil rights and race discrimination lawsuit against the city’s police department, accusing its practices of being racist.
St. Francis Smith alleges differential treatment in the suit filed in Orlando federal court Tuesday. Smith’s suit states he was the only African American on Mount Dora Police Department’s SWAT Team and he was coerced into joining “despite his discomfort with the SWAT team practices” and “placed in dangerous position(s) and was exposed to unsafe practice(s.)”
He was singled out and targeted in an Internal Affairs investigation initiated by former Chief John O’Grady, who was also the head of Internal Affairs. O’Grady, who also oversaw the fire department as public safety director, was fired in July after being put on administrative leave following insensitive comments to a Hispanic officer during an awards ceremony.
In a press conference announcing his firing, City Attorney Sherry Sutphen said, “The investigation concluded that there was overwhelming evidence of a department fraught with distrust and a lack of respect for O’Grady’s leadership. It also concluded that O’Grady engaged I behavior unbecoming of a City of Mount Dora employee.”
Smith’s suit goes on to state he was repeatedly and intentionally treated differently by MDPD and O’Grady failed to correctly quote him in a report used against another African American employee. Smith was ordered and forced to volunteer in non-city events, while Caucasian officers were not, according to the complaint. “MDPD has created and condones a systemic pattern, and practice, which has become policy, to discriminate against African American employees”, the suit alleges.
In March 2018, Smith filed an internal hostile work environment complaint and he was charged with committing insubordination in retaliation. In June of the same year, O’Grady accused Smith of being “mentally unstable” because of his complaints of racial discrimination the suit alleges. Smith was placed on administrative leave and later cleared for work by a psychological examination. Just a month later Smith was coerced into resigning when MDPD threatened to make his personal emails public, he complains.
Smith is represented by Janice Kerr of Saint Cloud.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. In addition, she has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
