METHUEN — Former state representative and fired Methuen police Sgt. Jose Santiago fought to get his cop job back, and the state's Appeals Court has dealt him strike three.
The Appeals Court affirmed the decisions made by Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Fahey and the state Civil Service Commission that then Mayor Sharon Pollard rightfully fired Santiago on June 27, 2004 after he refused to go through a retraining program at his own expense.
Santiago, 50, joined the police force in 1982. He was injured in 1997 and took an unpaid leave of absence to become state representative in his home city of Lawrence for two terms. He was defeated for re-election in 2002 by William Lantigua, who is now the mayor of Lawrence.
Santiago tried to return to his police job after leaving Beacon Hill, but then police Chief Joseph Solomon said he had to complete a retraining program at a police academy at his own expense and without pay because he had been off the job more than five years.
Santiago refused to attend the academy under those conditions, insisting he had a right to immediate reinstatement with pay and without having to pay for the retraining. Santiago said he would attend any reasonable retraining program at Methuen's expense.
With Solomon saying he never received paperwork from Santiago to complete the training, Pollard fired Santiago.
Santiago appealed to the Civil Service Commission in 2007, and the commission sided with the city. Santiago then appealed in Lawrence Superior Court. He lost there and then went to the Appeals Court and lost again.
"I am pleased with the court's ruling," City Solicitor Peter McQuillan said of the latest victory — his third for this case. "It has been the city's position from the outset that Mr. Santiago's case was without merit. A state administrative agency, the Superior Court and now the Appeals Court have all agreed and confirmed that position."
The Appeals Court ruled Aug. 17 that the Police Department was not required to pay for Santiago's training and wages.
"The town's position, with which the commission agreed, is ... a municipality will pay for the training expenses and salary of an officer in only two situations: (1) new appointees to a full-time position in a police department, and, (2) in-service or supervisory training," Judges Joseph Trainor, Peter Rubin and Francis Fecteau wrote in their decision. "Neither of those situations applies to this plaintiff."
Santiago could not be reached for comment.
"It's extremely difficult to overturn the appeals court," said Santiago's attorney, Anthony DiFruscia. "So from a practical point of view, I don't believe that we'll be appealing into the Supreme Court."
DiFruscia contended state law says an officer who has taken a leave of absence is to be reinstated before retraining. Before Santiago could get his job back, the city created a condition saying employees gone for five years have to pay for retraining and can't collect their salary while going through the training, DiFruscia said.
"So what the town of Methuen decided, because they had some huge differences with him which were politically motivated, was they would not pay for the application or the time for training," DiFruscia said.
The training program is about six weeks long and Santiago had no money coming in at the time, DiFruscia said.
The judges decided there is no statutory provision concerning the expense of the retraining requirement for an officer who has been on a leave of absence for more than five years.
Asked what the city's political motivations were, DiFruscia said it had to do with Santiago's "ongoing political battles with the establishment" while he was a state representative.
"Not surprisingly and unfortunately the plaintiff and his counsel employed every dilatory tactic imaginable to detract from simplicity of the issues resulting in prolonged, unnecessary litigation," McQuillan said.
