Nichelini Lawsuit Against Vallejo to Move into Mediation
A federal civil rights lawsuit filed by former Vallejo Police Lieutenant and President of the city’s police union (VPOA) Michael Nichelini is headed into mediation. The VPOA is also a plaintiff in the suit.
Nichelini was given a notice of termination last December and has left the department, though he remains union president.
According to court documents filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California, on July 30, the parties stipulated to Voluntary Dispute Resolution Program (VDRP). Nichelini, the VPOA, and the City were given the names of three neutral VDRP mediators on August 12, which both sides rejected.
“The Parties believe that allowing a selection of an experienced mediator other than those mediators suggested by [VPRD] would allow the Parties to potentially reach a resolution of this matter,” the court document reads.
On August 26 the court stipulated that both parties “jointly and respectfully” elect an experienced, neutral moderator.
The suit was filed in March and names the City and its police department– including every member of the City Council, Police Chief Shawny Williams, ex-Mayor Bob Sampayan, Ex-City Manager Greg Nyhoff, current Interim City Manager Anne Cardwell, and former Councilmember Hermie Sunga.
His initial complaint includes allegations of violating his free speech, privacy, and due process rights, defamation, interference with union activities, discrimination, retaliation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among others.
The ex-lieutenant claims that he became the “subject of harassment” after he became union president.
Chief Williams placed Nichelini on administrative leave in July of 2020 after accusing him of destroying windshield evidence in the case of Sean Monterrosa, who was shot and killed by the VPD during the chaotic events surrounding the death of George Floyd last summer. Monterrosa was shot through the windshield of a police vehicle. For this admin leave, Nichelini claims that being barred from the workplace “effectively prevented (him) from meeting with and representing VPOA members.”
According to the original complaint, Nichelini also says he was told that he was the subject of an internal affairs investigation in December of 2020, regarding “correspondence with a member of the news media.” Nichelini emailed San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis Taylor Jr., who had been critical of the Vallejo PD and had accepted a job in Georgia.
“Looks like 2021 will be a little better not having your biased and uniformed (sic) articles printed in the newspaper only to inflame the public,” the email read. “You have never looked for the truth in any of your writings. We will warn our Georgia colleagues of your impending arrival.”
Taylor has said that he took the message as a “veiled threat,” especially since he is a Black man.
“I am going to the South, where racial segregation, racial hierarchy still thrives,” Taylor told the Chron. “You mean to tell me that you are going to tell police that I am coming? Like, you’re telling a Black man that you’re calling the police on him, essentially.”
Nichelini disputes this in his suit, calling the accusation that he sent an “inappropriate and potentially threatening email to a member of the media” was false. However, his attorney, Michael Rains, apologized to Taylor on behalf of Nichelini in an interview with KTVU.
Nichelini also came under fire for allegedly emailing an image of a VPD badge from 1907 to the union which featured a swastika, something his says in his suit “bore no negative connotations.”
The lawsuit initially sought $7.5 million in damages, according to John Glidden.
Note: As a rule, the City of Vallejo or VPD will not comment on pending litigation. I will still ask them to comment, during normal business hours. Calls to Nichelini’s attorneys in the past regarding this case have not been returned, though again I will reach out during normal business hours.
