Worker Settles Suit for $77,000

An undocumented worker from Mexico who accused a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy of abuse received a $77,000 settlement from the county, and in return dropped his federal lawsuit.

The settlement for Francisco Padilla, 19, was completed in early November but announced this week.

In an videotaped confrontation in the avocado-covered hills above Temecula in April 2003, Padilla was seen being punched in the face by Riverside County sheriff’s deputy Alexander Todd. The incident occurred after Todd stopped Padilla for driving with an obstructed windshield. Padilla was later deported to Mexico. He returned to the United States this year but was arrested and deported again.

“[Padilla] is happy with the amount,” said his attorney, Luis Carrillo. “This case sends a message that if you are an undocumented worker, there is justice for you -- a remedy available if your civil rights are violated. I would hope the deputies in Riverside County would stop these types of actions. If they don’t, I’ll file additional claims.”

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice this year concluded that the deputy did not violate Padilla’s civil rights.

Carrillo and law partner Gregory Moreno alleged in Padilla’s lawsuit that sheriff’s deputies “routinely harass Latinos” around the farming areas next to Temecula, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore.

“The farmworkers say these stops and deportations happen a lot,” Carrillo said.

Riverside County Sheriff Bob Doyle declined to comment on the settlement, but previously has said his deputies were not instructed “to do the Border Patrol’s job.”

John M. Porter, the attorney who represented Riverside County in the case, said the settlement was encouraged by U.S. Magistrate Judge Suzanne H. Segal, and that it includes no admission of wrongdoing by the county.

“It’s just a settlement of a civil claim motivated by economic concerns, such as the cost of the case and the cost of losing a jury verdict,” Porter said. “[Padilla] made a claim and there was a videotape that was possibly shocking to jurors, but Mr. Padilla received no injuries after getting smacked in the face, and he later described Deputy Todd as ‘a good cop.’ ”

Porter described Carrillo’s racial profiling accusation as “absurd,” noting that Todd routinely patrolled an area in which “90% of the people are Hispanic.”