Semper Fired? Former South Gate Officer Says Joining Marines Got Him Fired

A former South Gate police officer who alleges he was fired for joining the military is suing the city.

Luis Rodriguez filed the lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming violations of the state's Military and Veterans Code as well as the Peace Officer Bill of Rights. Rodriguez seeks unspecified damages.

A representative of the city could not be immediately reached.

According to the complaint, Rodriguez signed up for the SGPD's Special Weapons and Tactics Team in March 2012. A month later, he applied for induction into the Marine Corps a month later, according to the complaint, which does not state if Rodriguez wanted to go on active duty or join the USMC reserves.

In May 2012, a South Gate police lieutenant told Rodriguez that he could either go to the USMC boot camp or try out for the SWAT team, but not both, the suit states.

The department began testing applicants for the SWAT team beginning the next month, knowing Rodriguez would be in military boot camp until November 2012, according to the lawsuit.

A month after Rodriguez returned from boot camp, another lieutenant sarcastically told him, "I see you have returned with all your limbs," the suit states.

When a call came into the station about an alleged military deserter, both a lieutenant and a detective looked at Rodriguez and laughed, according to the suit.

Rodriguez was suspended in February 2013 for 80 hours after a traffic incident and ordered to surrender his badge and gun, the suit states. Unlike other officers guilty of worse conduct, he was denied the chance to work overtime shifts to make up for the lost pay, the suit states.

The officer was fired in July 2013, shortly after he complained that he believed he was being unfairly treated and denied promotions because of his military service, according to the suit.

--City News Service