ANOTHER RETALIATION LAWSUIT, THIS TIME VS. ABEL GOMEZ

By Juan Montoya

There has been yet another lawsuit filed in federal court by plaintiffs alleging that an elected official and his supporters have violated their constitutional protection to free speech and association by retaliating against them for exercising their political rights. 

The first one was by Cameron County jailer Jose Calvillo. The second was by Cameron County Sgt. Rodrigo Almanza, and the third one has been filed by Felipe de Jesus Coria, a lieutenant under Pct. 2 Constable Abel Gomez.

 The first one, filed on December 2020, accused the late Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio, Sgt. Edgar Rivera, Lt. Joe Elizardi retaliated against him while acting under the color of the law and took adverse action motivated by political association that resulted in his wrongful termination. 

In that lawsuit, Capt. Javier Reyna was alleged to have collaborated with the men who interrogated him and who accused him of releasing a video purporting to show an inmate being abused by another jail guard.

Calvillo charged Lucio and the two other officers, with Reyna's aid, had retaliated against him and charged them with political retaliation for his perceived political association with challenger Eric Garza in violation of his constitutional rights.

The next lawsuit was filed by Sgt. Rodrigo Almanza last April through attorney David Willis, this time against Garza and his chief deputy Robert Gracia for alleged retaliation against him for allegedly violating his First Amendment rights by retaliating against Almanza after he campaigned for former sheriff Lucio, Garza’s opponent in the 2020 Cameron County sheriff’s election.

He charged that he was demoted from his supervisory duties, his position of prestige at the department, reporting to subordinates, and assignment to demeaning duties meant to force him to quit his job at the department.  

Federal judge Fernando Rodriguez refused to dismiss Almanza's claim against Garza's motions for dismissal in his personal and official capacity, saying that "based on Almanza’s allegations and the applicable law," Rodriguez wrote, "the Court concludes that the claims against Sheriff Garza and Chief Deputy Gracia are not subject to dismissal."

Calvillos' lawsuit, on the other hand, was dismissed by the court absent a nexus of the direct involvement of the policy maker – Sheriff Lucio – although his attorney said at they would have appealed his order but that his client lacked the funds to file the appeal in federal court.

The Coria lawsuit – filed by local attorney Cesar De Leon January 13 – mirrors Almanza's and charges that after Coria voiced a desire to run against Gomez, a program of retaliation designed to humiliate him and force him to quit his job was initiated by Gomez that included, much like Almanza's, of

1. transferring him to the security detail at the Cameron County parking lot from his prestigious supervisory role as lieutenant

2. removing him from major crimes investigations,

3. stripping him of his position as the main liaison to federal task forces, including the federally-funded Operation Stonegarden

4. stripping him of all supervisory duties, subordinates, and supervisory patrol duties

5. assigning him to shift schedules and working conditions not given to constable office supervisors

6. requiring him to perform menial and pointless duties at the county courthouse parking lot, which the sheriff's office already performs

Coria lists nine years of military experience, two years as a detention officer, and that he has been a full-time licensed police officer for 16 years, and had acquired an intermediate, advanced and Master Peace Officer License. He states that he had been with Gomez for the last 8 years, 11 months and had never been the subject of disciplinary actions.

As such, Coria said that until he voiced his desire to run for constable, his job duties included supervising numerous subordinates, responding to emergencies, investigating major crime scenes, revising reports, interviewing witnesses, testifying in court, submitting racial profiling statistics, and supervising the patrol division deputies.

As such, he received various benefits such as an office, a preferred 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. work schedule with weekends off, a late-model feet unit, and served as the liaison to U.S. Border Patrol Rio Grande Valley Intel Unit. 

According to his lawsuit, all that was taken from him by Gomez in retaliation after he was vocal in front of other deputies in late August 2021 and told them he was contemplating a run for public office against Gomez for constable.

Les than two weeks later, on Sept. 9, Coria states that he received a message from Gomez changing his schedule from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to patrol the area around SpaceX from 5 to 7 a.m., a task usually left to deputy patrol constables, and never to a lieutenant.

Coria states that the following week – although Gomez knew that Coria had parental custody of two-year-old daughter – he nonetheless again changed his schedule to 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. These schedule changes placed him on traffic patrol at SpaceX, intentionally putting him in a difficult situation with his parental duties.

Coria said that he was the only lieutenant and supervisor in the constable's office scheduled for traffic enforcement. He was also stripped of all his subordinates and ordered to patrol without assistance in the evening hours. On September 23, he was then stripped by Gomez of an assignment as supervisor to the federally-funded StoneGarden duties, depriving him of overtime compensation and directing him to train his replacement, a deputy who had no prior experience in the role.

Then, at the end of September, Gomez assigned him to the courthouse security detail, a duty which included covering posts for other deputies during their lunch breaks and covering positions if anyone is absent.

Coria charges that Gomez then told him he was no longer responsible for investigations or supervising patrol deputies and that he would now report to a subordinate and ordered him to start "clocking in," something he never had to do before he voiced his desire to run against Gomez. He was later removed from the "Whattsapp" patrol chat group, further excluding him from the constables office.

On October 5, Coria charged that Gomez sent two deputies who entered his private property to take his patrol unit at his home with his personal belongings and would have been successful had not his daughter seen them and alerted him. 

"Coria's speech forms the basis for the retaliation resulting in an to the far-less prestigious job of working courthouse security detail," the lawsuit charges, and charges that the close timing between his expressing a desire to run for constable and his assignments and adverse employment actions demonstrates a casual connection between the events.

Gomez, therefore, is not entitled to qualified immunity against the claim against him in his individual capacity, and Coria asks the court to issue a declaratory judgement requiring Gomez to assign him to a position with a supervisory authority with all the customary privileges and prohibiting them from subsequently reassigning him from there based on his protected activity expressing a desire to run for political office. 

He also seeks compensatory and punitive damages because Gomez's actions were motivated by "an evil motive and intent  o retaliate against Coria with a reckless and callous indifference to federally protected rights. Coria seeks punitive damages from Gomez in his individual capacity and necessary attorney's fees, court costs, and expenses.