Finally Back!! I was fighting the fight!!

[Bounty Hunter 40]

City officer wins retaliation suit against police

Jury sides with William 'Pat' Babby III, but veteran cop only awarded $1

By ESTEBAN PARRA • and IRA PORTER • March 29, 2008 A federal jury Friday said Wilmington police retaliated against a 19-year veteran for reporting offensive comments by a superior who later was promoted to department spokesman.

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"I feel like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders," Cpl. William "Pat" Babby III said. "It's a huge, huge victory for myself and brother officers who have been retaliated against."
The jury awarded Babby $1 -- much less than the undisclosed damages he was seeking.
"The city disagrees with the finding of liability by the jury and is reviewing its legal options at this time. We feel that the amount of the jury award, which is just $1, speaks volumes about the overall credibility of this case," said John Rago, Wilmington's communications director.
"The case was never about the money," Babby's attorney, Jeffrey Martin, said. "The case was about the fact that they had been retaliating against him for seven years by keeping him in patrol."
The case began when then-Sgt. William Wells told Babby -- whose biological mother is Hispanic -- that "all Puerto Ricans have low riders and fuzzy dice hanging from their mirrors" and that "all Puerto Ricans and Mexicans are alike." Two other officers heard Wells' comments.
After Babby filed his complaint, a colleague of Wells' "warned" one of Babby's superiors that Babby was "lazy."
As a result, fellow officers blackballed Babby, who has remained on patrol since 2001. Wells, on the other hand, was made department spokesman and then promoted to lieutenant.
Babby, who hopes to become a Wilmington police detective like his father was, said it was "disheartening" to see this sort of behavior from people in the upper ranks that he looked up to.
"But hopefully this will teach them a lesson, that they can't do this to people," said Babby, who reports to duty today for the first time since the trial started Monday.
Wilmington Police Chief Michael Szczerba said the department will continue to move forward with the same dedication as before. "As a fully responsible leader, all involved parties in this matter can rest assured that on behalf of the department I accept the verdict in sincere and humble docility."
"As to the award amount, I would like it to speak for itself."
Babby, however, said he was a little disappointed by the award because he didn't think it would send enough of a message to the department. But Martin said Wilmington will have to pay legal fees for him and the private law firm the city hired to handle the case.
"It will cost the city over $200,000 to try this case when they had an opportunity to resolve it for a lesser amount," he said.
Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.
Contact Ira Porter at 324-2890 or iporter@delawareonline.com.

Now I can finally get back to metal detecting....talk about stressful! But alass justice has been served.

[cntrydncr1]

Wow that must have been very stressful. I hope the stress will not continue. Congrats on the win and happy digging!

[Capt.B]

Hope things work out for you. Welcome back.

[Bounty Hunter 40]

It's been hell let me tell you....but I prevailed and I am waiting for my first transfer to another division. Thanks to all who read!

[Buster]

Glad it all worked out for you....Buster....

[Dugday]

Good Luck at the new division, Hopefully a lot less stress.. the Job is it is, is very stressful.

[Ric-san]

Sorry to hear that the Willmington Police treated its officers like that. Sorry for the low award...you lucky to get something from the McDonalds $1 menu...those bastards...! Hey but on the bright side, as you stated, you can get back to detecting...good luck!

[bdahunter]

Like the song says 'Sometime You Have To Fight, To Be Man'!

Congrats on fighting the good fight and winning,

BDA

[EBCIII]

Good on you for standing up to the higher ups. Sometimes it is hard to do, right but hard, Beale.

[gordiesgirl]

Glad to have you back, hope things get back to normal soon,