CROWN POINT | The recent settlement of a political firing lawsuit against Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez likely will cost taxpayers about $100,000.
County Attorney John Dull said the County Council will appropriate that amount to resolve claims made by three former sheriff's civilian employees who took the sheriff to trial last month after they were fired from the sheriff's work-release center because of a security breach there.
Portage attorney Janice R. Gambil, who represented the three employees, said Tuesday, "We reached a confidential settlement agreement. It took place during trial before the (sheriff's) defense even put on their side of the arguments."
Dull said the settlement, which is being presided over by Superior Court Judge Diane Kavadias-Schneider, is less than what the former employees demanded during the final settlement talks. It also is much less than a jury might have awarded the former workers, based on indications jurors gave in questions they were asked after hearing testimony by the plaintiffs' witnesses.
The breach in question began with a dispute about 6 a.m. Aug. 16, 2005, on the second floor of the work-release center, a minimum-security detention facility housing minor criminals, court documents state. One of the center's custody officers, who wasn't a party in the suit, accidentally left open a security door that would have given inmates access outdoors to nearby Crown Point and Merrillville residential areas.
Another sheriff's employee visiting the center discovered it still open about 10 minutes later, as well as a group of inmates gathered around who appeared to have been tempted to escape, although none did.
The sheriff terminated not only the custody officer who left the door open, but also Robert Deliget, James Fulk and Robert Klus, fellow custody officers who also were on duty in the center at the time and unaware of the open door, despite the presence of video monitors at their work stations, said Merrillville lawyer John M. Kopack, an attorney for the sheriff.
Deliget, Fulk and Klus sued the sheriff in 2007, alleging the sheriff was retaliating against them because they were supporters of former Sheriff John Buncich. Dominguez and Buncich were political enemies at the time but have since reconciled. The three also alleged they were victims of age and reverse racial discrimination.
The county refused before the trial to settle the suit, alleging the sheriff had no way of knowing the three men's political affiliations. The three men said the sheriff could have learned that from the county's political rumor mill.