Court dismisses $10M lawsuit filed by Fla. police chief fired over diversity promotions

By Susannah Bryan
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Larry Scirotto, Fort Lauderdale’s first gay police chief, pushed for diversity in the upper ranks but was fired six months into the job amid claims he made promotions based on the color of the candidates’ skin.

Scirotto, 50, filed a federal lawsuit in March seeking damages approaching $10 million for what he called breach of contract and wrongful termination. That lawsuit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas in late September.

Larry Scirotto filed a federal lawsuit in March seeking damages approaching $10 million for what he called breach of contract and wrongful termination. (Carline Jean/South Florida)

Another lawsuit against the city — one filed by four officers passed over for promotion by Scirotto — led to a $130,939 settlement. City commissioners agreed Tuesday to settle the case and pay damages for the officers’ emotional pain and suffering.

“I’m happy that we were able to achieve a settlement,” Mayor Dean Trantalis said. “The city wishes to be fair to everyone. I’m hoping this will put the issue behind us.”

On Friday, the mayor referred to Scirotto’s termination as an “unfortunate episode in our city.”

Trantalis says he didn’t learn Scirotto had been fired until after it happened.

In Fort Lauderdale, the police chief is not hired or fired by the commission. That job falls to the city manager.

“We were all taken by surprise,” Trantalis said of Scirotto’s unexpected exit. “He was a great individual and would have made an important contribution to our law enforcement agency.”

Mum on next steps

The court dismissed Scirotto’s claim of wrongful termination and defamation, but gave Scirotto and his attorneys an Oct. 6 deadline to amend the civil rights violation claim.

On Friday, Scirotto’s attorney declined to comment on whether they plan to do so.

“I am still discussing next steps with my client,” said Nicole Martell, who is representing Scirotto along with attorney David Di Pietro.

Scirotto is now the top cop in Pittsburgh, where he was sworn in on June 7. He joined the agency there in 1995 and worked his way up to the rank of assistant chief. He left in 2018 only to return this year as chief.

Scirotto got the job in Fort Lauderdale after being asked to help boost diversity at the department, only to be fired in March 2022 amid allegations he promoted minority officers based on race.

“I’m doing this to have my name cleared,” Scirotto told the South Florida Sun Sentinel after his lawsuit was filed. “As long as the city is saying I violated EEOC law, then my name will be forever tarnished.”

During his tenure, Scirotto promoted 15 officers. Nine were white men. The other six were minorities by ethnicity or gender.

“Although nine of the 15 employees promoted were white males, Mr. Scirotto received significant opposition from FLPD employees demanding that Mr. Scirotto promote an even greater number of white employees,” according to his lawsuit.

Warnings of pushback

In October 2021, four officers who were not promoted — three men and one woman — filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming discrimination.

Soon after, Scirotto met with then-City Manager Chris Lagerbloom and the Human Resources director to review his promotion choices. Both backed his decision-making process, according to Scirotto’s lawsuit.

Scirotto, who had been tasked early on with bringing further diversity to the department, got warnings from both the mayor and city manager that he’d likely face pushback in his efforts to promote and hire more minorities, his lawsuit says.

Three months after hiring Scirotto, Lagerbloom hired former prosecutor Gregg Rossman to conduct an independent investigation into whether the chief made promotions based on race and gender.

The report, described by Scirotto’s lawsuit as inherently biased, determined he had leaned too heavily on race in deciding who to promote.

Scirotto, hailed by city leaders as an agent for change when he first joined the department, was fired six days later.

According to Rossman’s report, Scirotto on more than one occasion pointed to a wall in his conference room with photos of the department’s command staff and said, “That wall is too white.”

Scirotto denies ever using the words “too white” to describe the wall of photos.

The racial makeup of the four officers who sued the city after not getting promoted by Scirotto include three white officers and one Hispanic officer.

Closing a chapter

Police Chief Patrick Lynn, Scirotto’s successor, promoted all four officers just weeks after taking over the department in April 2022.

Kimberly Maus was promoted to the rank of captain and three sergeants — Richard Fortunato, Laun Malushi and Francisco Vetancourt — were promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

“My clients are very happy to put this behind them,” Tonja Haddad-Coleman, attorney for the officers, said after the city approved the settlement. “I think it’s good because the city is making whole the people who protect it.”

In a memo to the commission, City Manager Greg Chavarria said a settlement would be less expensive than going to court.

“Staff and defense counsel’s evaluation of the potential financial exposure to the city determined that a settlement would provide the most cost-effective outcome,” he wrote.

Here’s how the $130,939 settlement breaks down: $19,203.89 to Maus; $16,734.88 to Vetancourt; and $15,000 each to Fortunato and Malushi.

The settlement also includes $65,000 in attorney’s fees for Haddad-Coleman.

Like his colleagues on the dais, Commissioner Steve Glassman supported settling the case.

“It does close a chapter,” he said.

Another chapter will close when the department’s police chief retires on Dec. 15.

Lynn was hired in March 2022, just 19 days after Scirotto was terminated. Lynn also filled in as interim chief for the department in 2021 while Fort Lauderdale searched for a new chief.

“It’s time to look ahead,” Trantalis said. “Now that Chief Lynn has stated his intention to retire, this gives our city manager a chance to start fresh and find a chief who can meet the needs of the community and fulfill the expectations of the commission.”