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Cleveland police sergeants sue city, department over lack of promotion to lieutenant

Both claim they were supposed to be promoted, but never were to to a mix of tragic and unjust circumstances.
Credit: WKYC-TV

Two sergeants in the Cleveland Division of Police have filed a lawsuit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court accusing the department of going back on a promise to promote both to the rank of lieutenant earlier this year.

According to the lawsuit (originally filed Aug. 23), Sgts. Shawn Smith and Zina Martinez took the Lieutenant Civil Service Examination back in October of 2014, and the results of that exam were certified the next year. Those results were to be used over the next few years to select candidates for promotion, and Smith and Martinez were apparently among the most qualified candidates for consideration.

Both Smith and Martinez were allegedly informed this year they would be promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and were even encouraged not to bother completing the upcoming exam due to the impending events. However, just one day after learning about their promotion, Officer Vu Nguyen collapsed and died while completing a fitness test. His funeral was scheduled for July 12, the same day as the swearing-in ceremony at City Hall. With nearly every officer in town attending services for Nguyen, the ceremony was postponed, with no make-up date scheduled.

Smith and Martinez had expected to be promoted at a later date, but apparently learned the department planned to certify the results of the latest exam on Aug. 24. As neither Smith nor Martinez had completed that exam (thinking they were already about to be promoted), they would no longer be eligible for the rank of lieutenant, and would have to wait until the next exam years later.

The suit asks for both Smith and Martinez to immediately be promoted, claiming they will suffer unjust monetary damages should they remain in the lower rank of sergeant. Public Safety Director Michael McGrath and Police Chief Calvin D. Williams are among the co-defendants.

One day after the lawsuit was filed, Judge John J. Russo issued a temporary restraining order preventing the city from certifying the results of the latest exam until further notice. A hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 4 at 11 a.m. with Judge Steven E. Gall presiding.

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