By Rebecca Heath
nj.com
PASSAIC COUNTY, N.J. — A jury has awarded $375,000 to a former Passaic County corrections officer who said he faced years of retaliation after reporting racial discrimination.
Richard Camel, 55, a retired corporal at the Passaic County Jail, filed a lawsuit against the county Sheriff’s Office in 2021, claiming he endured a pattern of retaliatory actions dating back to 2016.
Following a week-long trial, jurors determined on Oct. 7 that while the sheriff’s office did not intentionally discriminate against Camel based on race, it had “more likely than not” retaliated against him, according to online court records.
Camel was awarded $375,000 in damages, including $100,000 for past emotional distress, $60,000 in back pay, $176,800 in front pay, and $38,200 in punitive damages.
An additional $375,000 was awarded for attorney’s fees, bringing the total award to $750,000.
“I finally got my justice through the eight jurors that sat on that stand and heard this lawsuit out,” Camel said. “I’m forever thankful to them.”
The Passaic County Board of County Commissioners authorized the full settlement during its Nov. 17 meeting, records show.
Camel’s attorney, Leonard Schiro, said he was confident the jury would rule in his favor.
“He went through a tough time up there, and I’m glad we were able to bring him some justice,” Schiro said.
Camel, a 25-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, alleged in his lawsuit that he began experiencing discrimination in 2012 “as the result of animus toward him as a Black individual,” but waited several years to file a complaint due to fear of retaliation.
According to the suit, the retaliation began after Camel made a verbal complaint in December 2016 about a sergeant who was harassing him. Following an informal investigation, Camel was transferred to a less favorable shift.
In February 2017, Camel filed an 8-page written complaint against the sergeant. About two weeks later, he was issued a five-day suspension for alleged conduct dating back to 2015, the lawsuit claims.
That August, while he was on family leave to care for his sick mother, Camel received a disciplinary notice for absenteeism for taking sick days he had accrued, the complaint states.
The sheriff’s office also investigated bereavement leave Camel took for the deaths of his stepmother, father-in-law and aunt, the suit claims. He was required to prove he was related to the deceased, which was a “humiliating, disrespectful and demeaning” process.
Camel was later ordered to undergo drug testing and psychological fitness for duty evaluations as a result of his absences, the complaint states.
He was issued six additional disciplinary notices between November 2018 to February 2019 from the sheriff’s office centered on his attendance, four of which sought his removal from employment, the suit claims.
Following a hearing, Camel served a 30-day suspension for all the charges against him.
In 2020, Camel submitted another written complaint accusing a sergeant of discriminatory and retaliatory conduct. No formal investigation was conducted, aside from supervisors informally speaking with the sergeant, according to the lawsuit.
The retaliation escalated while Camel was on leave to care for his mother after she contracted COVID-19, the suit claims. Officers from the special investigations division allegedly surveilled Camel’s home and went to his mother’s home.
According to Camel, officers in an unmarked police car drove up and down his street for five days. Concerned neighbors eventually called the police to report it, he said.
“The Paterson Department pulled up on them, jumped out basically with guns drawn, and from there they quickly identified themselves and pulled off,” he said.
Despite providing medical documentation, Camel claims in the suit he was not paid for the 14 days he was on leave due to being exposed to the virus.
He later received a 35-day suspension for not being home when officers came one day during his leave, though he was reportedly visiting his mother in the hospital at that time.
The state Civil Service Commission overturned that suspension last year and awarded Camel 35 days of back pay, benefits and seniority, records show.
In 2021, Camel received a positive performance evaluation, but his supervisor was ordered to rescind it and change categories to make them less favorable, according to the suit. He then received another notice seeking his removal from employment for excessive absenteeism.
While the disciplinary notices initially prevented him from filing for retirement, Camel retired from the sheriff’s office in July 2023 after the charge was cleared.
“The retaliation, it was unbearable,” Camel told NJ Advance Media. “Me launching this lawsuit was something that I didn’t want to do. It was something that I had to do because it was just too severe. They were basically going after my livelihood ... and trying to hurt me and my family in the midst of it.”
While the Paterson resident said he’s grateful the “nightmare is finally over,” he still mourns the loss of his career.
“I loved being an officer, I love protecting and serving,” he said. “I was robbed of that career, and that’s something that I can never, ever get back. And no price can ever be put on that.”
“I feel that the department failed me,” he added. “I feel that every officer that sat in a position of command, that sat back and witnessed all of this, is just as equally guilty as the ones who were named as the harassers and the retaliators.”
Passaic County officials could not be reached for comment regarding the jury’s decision.
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