Politics & Government

Former Public Safety Director Wins Discrimination Suit Against City

Angel Alicea was awarded $440,000 in back pay after a jury found the city had discriminated against him prior to his resignation in April 2011.

A Hudson County jury Wednesday found the city had discriminated against its former public safety director and awarded him $440,000 in back pay and an undisclosed amount in damages, the Jersey Journal reported.
 
Angel Alicea, the city's first Hispanic public safety director, resigned in April 2011 and filed suit against the city and Mayor Dawn Zimmer later that year alleging he was forced from his job due to his ethnicity and his efforts to report illegal drug use within the Hoboken Police Department

The jury, by a 6-2 vote, found the city had discriminated against Alicea, but that Zimmer, by a 7-1 vote, had not and would not be held liable.

On Friday, the Journal reported that the city had reached a tentative agreement with Alicea on an undisclosed sum it would pay him in punitive damages on top of the $440,000 in back pay.

The city council, which must approve the settlement agreement, will meet in closed session Monday to discuss and later vote on the amount the city will pay out to Alicea.


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