$1.65 Million: “Whistle Blower” Case
In December 1997, the Miami police officer who blew the whistle on quotas that discriminated against African-Americans was finally compensated.
The compensation came in the form of a $ 1.65 million jury verdict after a week-long trial, during Ervin A. Gonzalez presented evidence that Officer Jesus Del Rio was unfairly harassed and demoted in 1994 because he attempted to inform police authorities that other officers were targeting African-Americans in public parks to meet arrest quotas. Beginning in 1990, Officer Del Rio also filed complaints that certain police officers violated department policies, including socializing during working hours. In 1993, Officer Del Rio was interviewed on a Miami TV station about an order that Miami police officers had received not to list certain witnesses on DUI reports, a practice that violates Florida state law.
Instead of receiving positive acknowledgement of his efforts to point out these problems in the Miami Police Department, Officer Del Rio lost promotions and experienced health coverage delays.
The lawsuit named the ranking police department Chief, Assistant Chief, a Major, a Lieutenant, the Civil Service Board and the City of Miami.
According to Mr. Gonzalez, the retaliation against Officer Del Rio was obvious. Before he voiced his objections to discriminatory and unlawful practices, he had been recognized with many commendations for his work as a police officer. After his objections, Officer Del Rio was intentionally issued payroll checks of wildly fluctuating and incorrect amounts that deprived him of his salary.
Eventually, he was demoted to guarding impounded cars, one of the department’s lowest assignments.
The verdict sends a loud message to Miami that these practices will not be tolerated and that those who bring the problems to the City’s attention deserve a commendation, not retaliation and harassment.
Faulty Construction
Nation’s First Chinese Drywall Jury Trial
Miami, Florida, June 2010 – A Miami couple was awarded $2.5 million in damages in the nation’s first Chinese drywall jury trial. Jurors found Banner Supply Company liable for knowingly selling the defective drywall used in Armin and Lisa Seifart’s $1.6 million home.
On Thursday June 17th, after a two week trial, Armin and Lisa Seifart’s attorney, Ervin A. Gonzalez of Colson Hicks Eidson, argued that Banner Supply Company had knowledge, as early as 2006, that their Chinese drywall was defective and that it sold the defective drywall to the Seifarts after entering into a confidential agreement with manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard Tianjian to not disclose the defect to others. “Banner Supply had a chance to be a national hero,” said Gonzalez. “Instead, they chose to save their own skin and didn’t disclose to others what they knew – that the drywall was defective.”
Gonzalez also argued that the Siefarts should receive more than just the $491,000 in costs of gutting and renovating their home, valued at $1.6 million and that they should also be awarded damages for loss of enjoyment of the house and for the drywall stigma that might reduce its resale value.
After deliberating for almost 12 hours, the 6 person Miami Dade jury agreed with Gonzalez and awarded the Seifarts $2.5 million in damages. “This was a very important case, not only for my clients, but for the thousands of Chinese drywall victims out there,” said Gonzalez. “The jury sent a clear message to Banner. You can’t put profits over people or sales over safety and expect to get away with it. We hope this case sets the tone for all the others out there that have suffered as a result of big companies doing bad things.”
Chinese dry wall has damaged thousands of homes in the State of Florida and other states. Banner Supply Co. is named in thousands of other lawsuits. The Seifart verdict will serve as a guide to other attorneys in those cases, as well as many others pending nationwide against other companies.