EMPLOYMENT
Police officer gets $1.3 million for termination
On July 31, a jury awarded nearly $1.3 million to a hospital police officer who claimed he was fired on bogus claims of excessive force. In 2009, Tomas Padilla was the officer in charge of the night shift at University Health System. He was promoted to the position to replace a demoted officer. He claimed 18 complaints of excessive force were filed because the demoted officer ecouraged patients and staff to file them. Padilla complained and then was demoted to dispatcher. He was fired a month later. The hospital contended that Padilla had been reasonably fired due to frequent incidents of excessive force. Padilla contended that the complaints were false and had been manufactured to cover up the retaliation for filing his initial complaint.
