Panel Upholds Firing of Glendale Officer

A Glendale police officer who was fired last May for his involvement in an off-duty fight with a hospital security guard will not get his job back, according to a ruling by the Civil Service Commission.

Commissioners denied on a 4-1 vote late Thursday an appeal for reinstatement to the force filed by Siegfried Dale Faucette.

“I am disappointed,” said Cecil W. Marr, the attorney who represented Faucette before commissioners. “I think the evidence demonstrated that he should not have been discharged, but they saw it differently.”

Retaliation Alleged

Marr said the seven-year veteran of the department was dismissed in retaliation for his testimony in a federal trial last year that found the Police Department had discriminated against a Latino officer.

Glendale Police Chief David J. Thompson denied the accusation and said Faucette was fired solely because of the altercation.

Faucette punched a security guard during a parking dispute Jan. 30 at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. Faucette was seeking medical care for his infant daughter and parked in an ambulance emergency zone, Marr said.

Faucette’s dismissal notice, posted in the Police Department last May, alleged four violations of Police Department codes. Included was a charge that Faucette unnecessarily displayed his revolver, a charge Marr denied.

Beginning in July, Civil Service commissioners met four times in closed session to discuss the appeal. The final meeting began at 10 a.m. Thursday and lasted until 11:30 p.m., Marr said.

In a separate action in June, Faucette and his wife filed a $5-million claim alleging wrongful termination, defamation, civil rights violations and personal injury. The city denied the claim last month.

Carl E. Douglas, an attorney representing Faucette, said this week he is disappointed about the commissioners’ decision “but not otherwise surprised.”

“Unfortunately, the commission didn’t show the courage that Mr. Faucette and his counsel would have hoped for,” Douglas said.

Passed Over for Promotion

Faucette was one of four black officers who testified in the federal discrimination trial that found the Police Department passed over Officer Ricardo L. Jauregui for promotion to sergeant in favor of less-qualified Anglo officers.

The judge ordered Jauregui promoted to the rank of sergeant with back pay at that rank retroactive to February, 1985. The city is appealing that decision.

The judge also ordered the city to hire an outside investigator to look into racially derogatory flyers and cartoons circulated in the Police Department and used as evidence in the federal trial. Los Angeles attorney Herman Sillas is conducting that investigation.

Since March, the three black officers who provided testimony against the department have filed separate discrimination claims against the city.