Jaramillo Files Suit to Be Reinstated

Fired Orange County Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo has sued to get his job back, alleging he was forced to give misleading information when he testified on behalf of the department and when he provided information to the media.

Jaramillo’s suit against Orange County and Sheriff Michael S. Carona was filed March 17 and contends he was wrongfully terminated by Carona a year earlier. Jaramillo is seeking to return to work with full compensation, benefits and seniority. The lawsuit also asks for unspecified damages.

Jaramillo declined to comment Tuesday, as did his attorney, Jeff Geraci of San Diego. Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said the department had not seen the lawsuit and that Carona was out of town and unavailable for comment.

The suit alleges that Jaramillo warned Carona in 2002 -- and again just before his dismissal last March -- that “certain practices” engaged in by the sheriff and his staff violated state and federal laws.

According to the lawsuit, Jaramillo complained in 2003 that he was “not allowed to provide accurate information” in testimony or official statements on behalf of the sheriff’s department.

At the time, Jaramillo was Carona’s top assistant and trusted advisor.

Jaramillo’s complaint doesn’t specify any wrongdoing by Carona and his staff, but he has said that Carona “was the ultimate decision maker” in the department’s 2003 decision not to arrest Gregory Haidl, who was linked to a small amount of marijuana found in a vehicle. Haidl is the son of then-Assistant Sheriff Donald Haidl. Jaramillo said Carona also approved of not disclosing the incident to the media.

At the time, Gregory Haidl was free on $100,000 bail for the alleged sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl in July 2002, and his bail could have been revoked had he been charged with marijuana possession. A jury is presently deliberating whether to convict him and two other defendants of rape.

Jaramillo also served as a board member of the Mike Carona Foundation, which came under scrutiny last October when a federal grand jury subpoenaed its financial records and other documents. Federal officials have declined to say whether the foundation, which works with at-risk kids, is under investigation.

Jaramillo alleges in the 13-page lawsuit that unnamed county officials asked him not to file suit “or other legal claims or demands” stemming from his dismissal, and Jaramillo initially agreed. According to the lawsuit, county officials in September 2004 agreed to let him file an administrative claim against the county even though the six-month filing deadline had lapsed. Jaramillo filed a wrongful termination claim Sept. 22, 2004 and it was rejected by the county two months later, according to the suit.

On Sept. 29, 2004, Jaramillo was arrested and charged with six felony and four misdemeanor counts of corruption stemming from the alleged misuse of patrol cars and on-duty deputies to stage demonstrations on behalf of CHG Safety Technologies. Jaramillo briefly worked as a paid consultant for the Mission Viejo company that invented an electronic device to disable a vehicle being pursued by law enforcement. Jaramillo’s sister-in-law, Erica Hill, was also charged. She used to be CHG’s office manager.

Before their falling out, Jaramillo and Carona enjoyed a strong bond. Jaramillo was a key advisor to Carona when he was elected sheriff in 1998 and Carona hired him in 1998 and made him an assistant sheriff. Carona said Jaramillo served at his pleasure, but the suit contends Jaramillo should have been reassigned within the sheriff’s department rather than be fired.

In the suit, Jaramillo claims Carona and the county acted maliciously in firing him, causing him to suffer “embarrassment, humiliation, and mental anguish.”