By Barrie Barber | The Saginaw News
SAGINAW — A veteran Saginaw County Sheriff’s Department road patrol sergeant has won $200,000 from his lawsuit against Sheriff William L. Federspiel and the county alleging he was demoted out of “political spite,” court records and an attorney said.
Sgt. Mark G. Garabelli, 48, of Thomas Township claimed Federspiel demoted him from lieutenant to his old rank of road patrol sergeant because he had campaigned for Federspiel’s rival, then-Sheriff Charles L. Brown, in the August 2008 Democratic primary. Federspiel defeated Brown, then a 10-year sheriff, and went on to win the November general election.
In September 2008, as a “lame duck sheriff” in the weeks after he lost to Federspiel, Brown promoted Garabelli from sergeant to lieutenant, court records state.
Federspiel removed Garabelli from the lieutenant’s post within weeks of taking office. He made Robert X. Karl, his campaign manager, his undersheriff. When Federspiel demoted Garabelli, he promoted Robert B. Phelps, whom the suit states had been a rumored candidate for undersheriff, to lieutenant from sergeant.
A case evaluation panel of three attorneys mediating the lawsuit recommended the judgment. Both sides accepted by Friday’s deadline, said Victor J. Mastromarco, Garabelli’s Saginaw attorney.
David A. Wallace, a Saginaw Township lawyer who represented the county, and County Controller and Chief Administrative Officer Marc A. McGill declined comment.
Federspiel said in court records he demoted Garabelli as part of restructuring. The Saginaw News could not reach him for further comment.
Karl said Garabelli’s removal wasn’t tied to political allegiance.
“That is absolutely false,” he said, declining further comment.
In his deposition, Garabelli called the restructuring “a sham” and said Phelps’ promotion was “no doubt in my mind a payoff for him.”
“It is undisputed that Phelps was an avid supporter of Federspiel,” Mastromarco said in court documents. “In fact, after the election and at a party at Woody O’Briens (a local bar), Sheriff Federspiel called Phelps up on stage and congratulated him for his efforts with respect to the election.”
Federspiel said in his deposition he didn’t know if Phelps supported him and he had told Phelps he would not be his choice for undersheriff. While Federspiel said Phelps was “disappointed,” Phelps told attorneys he didn’t want the undersheriff’s job because it would hurt his retirement pay and benefits to leave a union contract position to become an at-will employee. He said he had no relationship with Federspiel before Brown’s primary defeat.
Karl said in his deposition that Phelps appeared on stage on Election Night in November 2008 to show solidarity for Federspiel’s choice for him as undersheriff.
Garabelli sought more than $25,000 for lost wages and benefits and anguish, among other claims.
The case was set for a March jury trial before Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran. Saginaw County judges disqualified themselves from the case.
First Amendment rights
Garabelli claimed Federspiel violated the state Constitution and his First Amendment rights to political free speech with the demotion.
Federspiel denied politics caused Garabelli to lose the higher-paying post or played a role in Phelps’ promotion.
The sheriff said in a deposition Garabelli was removed four months into his six-month probationary period. He said Phelps was promoted as part of a reorganization of the department and a campaign pledge to bring change, the deposition shows.
Attorneys representing the county argued that as sheriff, Federspiel had “absolute immunity” from the suit. They further contended Garabelli “had admitted the sheriff’s right to restructure his department” during a deposition, court records said.
Phelps became leader of the Administrative/Technical Services Division, which in part oversees the Area Records Management System, a Jan. 23, 2009 Sheriff’s Department memo shows. Phelps was a sergeant who oversaw the records system before his promotion, according to court records.
Federspiel reassigned Lt. Paula Lounsbury from the Law Enforcement Division to Garabelli’s former job because of Lounsbury’s year of command experience, court documents said. “I needed a fresh face at the jail and Lt. Lounsbury had command experience,” Federspiel said at his deposition.
Neither Federspiel nor Karl formally reviewed Garabelli’s performance before his demotion, Mastromarco said in court records.
Federspiel breached a labor contract because a lieutenant can only be removed for “performance-based demotion and voluntary resignation,” court records contended. However, the county referred to the same contract clause to justify Garabelli’s removal.
The demotion cost Garabelli lost wages “as well as a more favorable pension plan and a loss of a county car, along with the prestige of the position and opportunities for future advancement,” Mastromarco wrote in court filings.
The top base wage for a sergeant is $58,685 while a lieutenant’s top salary is $64,147, according to county figures.
Former Undersheriff Arnold Burns described Garabelli as “a hard charger” who was “very professional” and “very dedicated,” court documents show. Capt. William Gutzwiller called Garabelli’s promotion “absolutely correct” and his performance “outstanding,” documents indicated.
Lounsbury and Gutzwiller recommended Phelps’ promotion when Federspiel assumed office, court records said. The plaintiffs contend Phelps had never applied before nor tested for a lieutenant’s position prior to his promotion.
Garabelli testified in a court deposition that he put up campaign signs for Brown and cooked food at a campaign fundraiser during the Frankenmuth Democrat’s unsuccessful re-election bid.
Court records stated Phelps told Garabelli before his demotion to take it “in stride” because Federspiel had other plans for him, Garabelli told attorneys.
In his deposition testimony, Phelps said he spoke to Garabelli shortly after his promotion and tol
d him “that I thought he was a pawn in a dangerous political game being propagated by the current Sheriff Brown.”
Phelps acknowledged he didn’t back Brown in the election.
“Brown’s guiding principle was cronyism. Promoting people he thought, he kept repeating this theme, that were personally loyal to him,” Phelps said in his deposition.
Phelps added there was “no operational necessity to fill the job except I’m big on personal loyalty. And I also heard him state in my presence, Brown, that these people are going to come in and tear down everything I do, everything I’ve built, that’s what it was. And so he’s trying to leave people he thought were loyal to him in perpetuity or whatever to carry on his philosophies. And the voters were obviously ready for a change from his philosophies. I just thought Mark was being thrown into an unfair trap based on all kinds of dynamics that could happen.”
Phelps told attorneys he had witnessed a department reorganization under former Sheriff Tom McIntyre, now director of Saginaw County Central Dispatch also.
Brown said politics did not play a role Garabelli’s promotion.
“The answer is I promoted the best people who I felt possible in the position,” Brown stated in his deposition. “It had nothing to do with politics.”
In an interview with The Saginaw News, Brown denied Phelps’ claims.
“Bob is notoriously blatant in his opinions, and not too many of them are very much substantiated,” Brown said. “No one was ever promoted because of loyalty; they were promoted because of their ability to do the job. That’s why they were promoted.”
Brown said he wanted to leave the department in the “best hands possible” as he and Burns, his undersheriff, worked with Federspiel and Karl during the transition.
“My interest is or was that I work for the people of Saginaw County,” said Brown, now a member of the state Parole Board. “It has nothing to do with politics. … It had nothing to do with Charlie Brown. It had to do with what’s best for the community.”
The Saginaw News could not reach Phelps for comment.
Garabelli told attorneys he met with Federspiel shortly after the new sheriff assumed office and assured him of his loyalty to his new boss. Garabelli, court records said, was demoted two weeks later.
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