WESTMINSTER : Jury Urged to Award Firefighters Damages

A federal jury which found that Westminster city officials had violated the civil rights of four firefighters was urged by the firefighters’ attorney Monday to award them damages for their losses, which he estimated in the millions.

“The evidence indicates that these men were terribly hurt,” attorney Alan C. Davis of San Francisco said. “Their careers and lives were destroyed. All they hoped and lived for [was] taken away from them.”

Last week, the same jury found that Mayor Charles V. Smith, Councilman Tony Lam, former Councilman Craig Schweisinger, former Fire Chief John T. DeMonaco Jr., Finance Director Brian Mayhew and city official Don Anderson unlawfully fired or disciplined the four firefighters--Hal Raphael, Don Herr, Joe Wilson and Dana Bowler.

The disciplinary actions are the crux of a long-running feud between the city and its firefighters union, which dates to several years ago when the city began investigating large amounts of overtime pay claimed by firefighters--more than $900,000 in one year.

The firefighters union blamed the overtime charges on the City Council’s refusal to hire more firefighters. Some of the firefighters clashed with city leaders and campaigned to recall council members. Several were fired or disciplined.

On Monday, Mayor Smith said the jury’s verdict was “inconsistent and leaves itself wide open for a potential appeal.”

The city’s attorney, Harold W. Potter of Santa Ana, asked the jury Monday not to award the firefighters anything.

Davis did not specify a damage figure, but he told the panel that his clients suffered losses in seven figures. The jury will continue to deliberate today.