Officer Juan Estrella. (Jordan Coll / SOC Images)
A jury has ruled in favor of a Union City police officer.
Union City Police Officer Juan Estrella has been fighting in a trial stemming from a discrimination lawsuit against the Union City Mayor Brian Stack, the Union City Police Department (UCPD), the City and the former police chief. The jury ruled in favor of Estrella on all eight counts.
In a unanimous (8-0) vote by the jury, Union City and the UCPD were found to have unlawfully discriminated against Estrella when he was bypassed for his promotion to sergeant in 2022. The jury also found Stack and then-Police Chief Nichelle Luster liable for aiding and abetting the unlawful discrimination by signing off on the bypass.
The case opens up a slew of questions on how the city goes about vetting police personnel on the basis of discrimination and unfair promoting practices.
Now, the plaintiff—Estrella—will be awarded $853,000 in economic and emotional damages, a landmark case against the mayor of Union City, who is also state senator and public safety director, along with the entirety of the police department.
But the case isn’t over yet.
Breaking Down The Case: The ‘Rule Of Three’
Stack’s defense attorneys, Corey Repasy and Phillip Morrow, from Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP, cited the “Rule of Three” under the New Jersey Civil Service Commission, which states that police departments do not have to go with their first candidate for the job among three applicants for the position.
The plaintiff’s defense pushed back at the start of trial on Aug. 3 in Hudson County Superior Court, contending that the “Rule of Three” is a tossed-out legal rationale if the reason the candidate was not offered the promotion solely due to their national origin, which was the cornerstone of the case’s deliberations.
When it came to advancing the ranks at the UCPD, Ernest Ianetti, one of Estrella’s attorneys, argued that an officer who allegedly sexually assaulted a UCPD 911 dispatcher was offered a promotion, despite being disciplined for sexual harassment on the matter previously reported by Hudson County View. The city settled that complaint with $100,000 and the woman did not file a lawsuit, according to Estrella’s defense.
“The extent of it [Estrella’s case] is quite extreme from what we discovered as we were working on the case.”
– Ernest Ianetti told Slice of Culture in a phone interview
The plaintiff’s counsel also indicated to Slice of Culture that it will appeal an earlier ruling that was dismissed by the first judge, Hudson County Superior Court Kimberely Espinalas-Maloney.
Oral arguments, according to the plaintiff, would present pay-to-play practices through Stack’s fundraisers in which officers donated thousands of dollars, which plaintiff argues was used as a way to promote officers under Stack’s administration.
“The standard for dismissing pleadings is very high. You are supposed to let these cases work their way to a jury, not have a judge say ‘Oh corruption is everywhere, so you can’t tell anybody about corruption in Union City,’” said Ianetti referring to the judge’s rationale for dismissing “pay-by-play” during opening deliberations.
Another scenario, added on Ianetti, was a UCPD officer injured off the clock who claimed it happened at work in order to collect worker’s compensation from Union City. That officer then got promoted after a 100-day suspension.
Attorneys for the plaintiff told jurors that Estrella and another UCPD officer handled the same call for a “bias incident,” but were reprimanded differently; Estrella is of Dominican origin and the other Police Officer David Tafur is Colombian.
‘The Bias Incident’ That Led To Estrella’s Suspension
The “bias incident” refers to a time where officers were called onto a scene where there was a verbal altercation between an Asian woman and a parking enforcement officer after the woman received a ticket for an expired meter. The woman alleged she was subjected to offensive remarks made to her, according to the defense.
However, both officers determined the incident did not amount to a “bias incident,” the plaintiffs argued. When the woman later took her complaint to the department, both were disciplined for failing to report it as one.
Tafur was given an oral reprimand, which he testified was a “slap on the wrist,” while on the other end, then-officer Estrella was suspended.
The defense argued the punishments were consistent with the department’s progressive disciplinary standards, while the plaintiff countered the argument by claiming that the gap between the two penalties, imposed by Luster, were extreme even under that threshold.
Slice of Culture attended the waning hours of the case, but no verdict was reached until Sept. 24 after jury deliberations where the verdict ruled in favor of the Dominican officer.
A pivotal moment came when Tafur testified that Luster said, “these Dominicans are animals” at a Dominican Day Parade sometime before the COVID-19 pandemic, as reported by Hudson County View—the plaintiff’s attorneys presented the testimony as a smoking gun, or unrefutable evidence, of Luster’s decision to not promote retired officer Estrella.
Luster denied making the comment.
The defense also called a witness who described Tafur as “not a truthful person,” while plaintiffs countered with their own witness who vouched for his truthfulness.
Text messages and testimony from Lt. Christopher Rengel revealed that Luster held a grudge against Estrella. Rengel testified that Luster was “gunning” for him and that he would not let her “screw him” out of a promotion he had worked hard to earn.
The Jury Still Has Some Decisions To Make
Jurors split 7-1 on only two questions:
- The liability of the City and the UCPD for unlawful discrimination against Estrella
- The $36,000 emotional damages award
The only remaining task for the jury is to determine the extent of punitive damages with court proceedings continuing on Oct. 16, which will be open to the public.
In an internal affairs audit summary report conducted by the Union City Police Department back in 2022, no cases were found to be related to the “demotion or loss of promotion opportunity,” though Estrella filed his discrimination suit in April 2022 in the Passaic County Superior Court in an eight-count complaint.
Slice of Culture reached out the Union Police Department on comments related to verdict’s determination on Estrella’s case, but none have been provided at the time of this reporting.
The defense, however, successfully sought a separate proceeding on punitive damages, to be heard by the same jurors.
Briefs are due Oct. 9, and oral arguments are scheduled for Oct. 16 in what is being called a “two-day trial.” The proceeding will also address the defendants’ ability to pay any punitive award. Stack and Luster will each be represented by new attorneys for the punitive phase.
Judge Kalimah Ahmad is presiding over the trial in Hudson County Superior Court, held in the historic William Brennan Courthouse in Jersey City. But what has remained to be seen is Union City’s police department’s papertrail when it comes to directing the city’s monies.
The Department of Justice’s inspector general questioned how Union City spent nearly 75% of two community policing grants, citing “a lack of procurement oversight and documentation,” according to the report reviewed by Slice of Culture.
The auditors flagged $1,696,808 of the $2.3 million awarded to the city and its police department, which has about 200 officers. The questionable costs include roughly $924,000 in purchases and about $773,000 to help run equipment.
“The City strongly disagrees with the court’s decision and we look forward to filing an appeal. This case was brought against the City, using entirely false narratives, hoping for a payday on the backs of Union City residents.
– Union City Mayor Brian Stack in a text to Slice of Culture.
Moreover, I am beyond appalled and disgusted by any claim of racism by me or my administration, as it is common knowledge that I revere the Dominican community, as Dominicans comprise both my family and friends.”
Slice of Culture was additionally told that a request to push the case for six more weeks was reportedly filed last week according to two sent letters from Stack and the city’s former Chief of Police Nichelle Luster to Judge Ahmad, on the side of the plaintiff as a request opposing the adjournment.
The public can attend the next court hearing, which is still set for Oct. 16 at the Hudson County Superior Court.
