Justice Department Sues City of Colorado Springs Police Department for Retaliatory Non-Promotion of Officer

    WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Justice Department
 filed a lawsuit yesterday alleging that the City of Colorado Springs Police
 Department refused to promote Officer Lance Lazoff to sergeant in
 retaliation for his association with and assistance to his wife who was the
 lead plaintiff in a successful class action lawsuit against the police
 department under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
 
 
 
     According to the government's suit, filed in federal district court in
 Denver, Lazoff serves on the Police Department's Tactical Enforcement Unit
 (S.W.A.T. team), teaches S.W.A.T. tactics nationally, and has had numerous
 commendations. Lazoff applied for promotion nine months after the
 settlement involving his wife, Sandy, who successfully challenged the
 police department's policy of involuntarily retiring police officers with
 disabilities. Lazoff publicly supported and assisted his wife's efforts.
 Although the former police chief claimed to have legitimate reasons for
 refusing to promote Lazoff, the government's complaint alleges that the
 real reason was to punish Lazoff for activity that is protected under the
 ADA.
 
 
 
     "The anti-retaliation provisions of our civil rights laws are vital to
 their efficacy," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General
 for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "If employers can exact
 retribution for an individual's assertion of his or her federal rights, or
 the rights of a spouse, then those rights become illusory."
 
 
 
     The United States' suit -- brought under the ADA -- seeks a court order
 requiring the Police Department to offer Lazoff a promotion to sergeant,
 together with other make-whole relief including the payment of back pay
 with interest, and related benefits.
 
 
 
     More information about the ADA can be obtained on the Department of
 Justice's ADA home page at http://www.ada.gov. Information about the ADA is
 also available on the Department's toll-free ADA Information Line at
 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice