North Miami Police Department Assistant Chief Larry Juriga got his panties twisted because former City Manager Aleem Ghany allegedly referred to him as a “redneck.”
He was also upset that Aleem allegedly said that two former mayors “hate him.”
According to a Charge of Discrimination he filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on July 6, 2015, Larry Juriga claimed that while he was on his cell phone with Aleem, he accidentally overheard Aleem tell his wife that Juriga was a “redneck” and that “they hate him.”
When Juriga confronted Aleem, he allegedly admitted everything. He also allegedly revealed that the individuals who “hate him” were Andre Pierre and Joe Celestin, “two politically influential Haitian-American former mayors, whom Mr. Ghany quoted as accusing me (falsely) of meeting weekly with white officers to plan how to block promotions of black and Hispanic officers.”
But, wait! There’s more!
Larry Juriga also claimed that he’s being discriminated against because he’s white.
Yes, you read that correctly.
In his complaint, Juriga wrote, “I have suffered discrimination on account of my race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
Interestingly, Juriga noted in his complaint that in the 21 years he has been a police officer for the City of North Miami, “the demographics have shifted to an African-American/Haitian majority.” He also lamented that a “white police chief and white assistant police chief were forced out in 2010.” (More on that in a moment.)
In addition, Juriga groused that since 2010 “all three chiefs … have been black.” And yet inexplicably, it didn’t dawn on him that until 2010 there had been only one black chief in the entire history of the North Miami Police Department – the same one who jump started Juriga’s rise up the proverbial corporate ladder. (More on that in a moment, too.)
For some reason, it also never bothered Larry Juriga that North Miami has never had an Hispanic Chief of Police (or Assistant Chief, for that matter), despite the fact that Hispanics represented 27.1% of North Miami’s population in 2010.
In any event, Assistant Chief Juriga claims that he was passed over for the chief’s position in 2011 in favor of Marc Elias, and again in 2014 in favor of his boss, Chief Lenny Burgess because he’s white.
And yet, he’s apparently forgotten how many doors have been opened for him because, well, he happens to be white.
Larry Juriga’s unlikely, yet meteoric, rise to assistant chief had nothing to do with his abilities or performance as a law enforcement officer, but everything to do with being in the right place at the right time.
Which is also known as dumb luck.
His 2003 promotion to major was a gift from Gwen Boyd, North Miami’s first black Chief of Police. Immediately after she was hired in 2002, Chief Boyd promoted then-Sergeant Stephen Johnson two ranks to Commander, bypassing the next level of lieutenants, and never even considering any of the other sergeants, all of whom happened to be white. In response, a group of sergeants and lieutenants filed a lawsuit, claiming discrimination.
If Juriga felt that he was discriminated against for being white, why didn’t he join in that lawsuit?
Because in order to defend herself against charges of discrimination, Chief Boyd needed to promote a non-black and Larry Juriga was a likely candidate. Even though he had failed the lieutenant’s exam, Chief Boyd promoted then-Sergeant Juriga two ranks to Major, over an entire class of lieutenants who were not even considered for promotion, some of whom had been patiently waiting their turn for years.
In 2010, the same year that Juriga disingenuously claimed that a white chief and white assistant chief were “forced out,” Juriga rose to the rank of assistant chief.
The part that Juriga conveniently left out was that those two individuals were not forced out but chose to leave the department. At the time the economy had taken a huge downturn, and there was a mass exodus from the police department due to looming budget, salary and benefit cuts.
Once everyone jumped ship, only two majors remained – Johnson and Juriga. Johnson was then appointed as Interim Chief. As soon as Johnson was appointed as the permanent Chief, Juriga became his Assistant Chief.
In addition to Juriga’s claim that he has been “marginalized in the department” because he’s white, his complaint also included allegations against Aleem Ghany based on his word alone, with absolutely no corroboration of record.
- Juriga claimed that Aleem Ghany not only called him a “redneck,” but also that Ghany admitted it and apologized.
- Juriga also claimed that Ghany said that Andre Pierre and Joe Celestin made certain accusations against Juriga, and that when pressed to explain why Ghany “had not done anything about these allegations,” Ghany had no answer.
- And finally, Larry Juriga claimed that Ghany promised him a promotion to “assistant city manager, overseeing the police department,” and never followed through.
As a side note, I’d like to remind Assistant Chief Juriga that Aleem promised lots of things that never came to fruition. For one, he told this blogger early last year when the Jodlyn Antoine scandal broke that he was going to either demote or terminate the chief. We all know that didn’t happen.
Here’s the thing.
While we can all assume that the allegations made by Assistant Chief Juriga are true, the fact remains that neither Aleem Ghany nor the City of North Miami (the Respondent) have admitted to any of them.
Among other items, the Mediation Settlement Agreement specifically states, “It is understood that this agreement does not constitute an admission by Respondent of any violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
The city does agree, however, that “there shall be no discrimination or retaliation of any kind” against Larry Juriga for filing the complaint.
Even so, in the interest of “closure,” and “as evidence of a good faith effort to resolve” the complaint, the City of North Miami agreed to give a boatload of money to Assistant Chief Juriga for all his pain and suffering.
For starters, there’s a lump sum of cash money in the amount of $32,490.00.
As I mentioned in my previous column, the settlement payment was to be issued in two checks, one to Juriga for $24,990.00, and the other to his attorney for $7,500.00. Since neither one of these checks were over the City Manager’s discretionary spending limit of $25,000.00, this payoff could, and did, fly under the radar of Mayor and Council.
Secondly, the City of North Miami agreed to give Juriga a one time salary increase to match the salary of Chief Leonard Burgess as of September 18, 2015. I was advised by the City that this raise amounted to approximately 5% of Larry Juriga’s salary. While Assistant Chief Gary Eugene continues to earn the smallest paycheck on the North Miami Police Department’s Command Staff, Larry Juriga is now earning a chief’s salary.
And finally, according to the terms of the Mediated Settlement Agreement, Larry Juriga gets his “health insurance benefits” paid by the City of North Miami until he turns 65.
All courtesy of North Miami taxpayers.
Instead of bringing the EEOC complaint to his five bosses and asking for direction, Aleem negotiated a settlement behind closed doors.
Mind you, this was not a complaint against a general employee whose superior is the City Manager. It was a complaint filed against the City Manager himself. It seems highly unethical, and perhaps even illegal, for Aleem to negotiate the terms of his own settlement without the consent of his own superiors – in this case, the Mayor and Council.
Maybe Aleem should reimburse the city’s taxpayers for all this money down the drain. After all, it was his screw up and not theirs.
As for Juriga, he finagled a five figure settlement for being called a redneck.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
UPDATE: Screen shot of Juriga’s complaint:
“Even though he had failed the lieutenant’s exam, Chief Boyd promoted then-Sergeant Juriga two ranks to Major, over an entire class of lieutenants who were not even considered for promotion, some of whom had been patiently waiting their turn for years.” THE CITY OF NORTH MIAMI, FL HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE DUMBEST ENTITIES AROUND. Just imagine going to an attorney who flunked the bar, an accountant who flunked the CPA exam or a doctor who flunked the medical exam. Oh, but then again none of these people would be licensed to practice law, accounting, or medicine. So now the City of North Miami, FL has an assistant Chief of Police who flunked the lieutenant’s exam. Aren’t we the lucky ones? THIS CITY IS PATHETIC!
In all fairness, he did pass the test eventually. But he was promoted after he failed it the first time.
Larry Juriga hasn’t done one damn thing his whole career. Not one. He has zero experience to be an AC all he did was work in patrol for a few years hiding on midnight shift with his grab ass buddies then he made sgt and they put him in the detective bureau just to get him off the road. He didn’t even do that very long until he hit that lotto and made major. He bitches about being passed over by others and he started shaking when Gary Eugene came in. Why? Because these people are more qualified, have more experience and have done so much more than him. If you say this to him he turns red in the face and stomps off like a bratty kid. Juriga doesn’t know anything that he didn’t learn from a book. That’s all he has and no actual experience. This is why he’s so jealous of Eugene and he want to keep him in the background because if anyone were to compare them they’d find out the truth. Juriga is as fake as that ugly cutout of him we had in the lobby. A cardboard nothing.
Ironically, Juriga wasn’t even on my radar until he decided to file the discrimination complaint. Plus, if Gary Eugene had been treated fairly from the beginning, there would have been no need to compare the salaries. You could say that in my quest to prove the Chief’s incompetence Juriga is just collateral damage. However, since he decided to take sides, as it were, and protect his idiot boss instead of standing up to the corruption, he’s now fair game. The residents of North Miami should have been his first priority. I have zero respect for someone who fails to understand the concept of “protect and serve.” He should have known better.
I wonder if there were other checks cut for 24,999 or less during Aleem’s reign
I wouldn’t doubt it. The IMECO fiasco comes to mind. Just saying.
I know lots of officers and administrators in North Miami. From over thirty years hear I would say that it is true. Mr. J got hired here when is dad was the Asst Chief, and that is why he chose North Miami, knowing that with his family in control running the department it would be a shoe in to get hired and moved right uo to chief. Lets face it when he took the SGT exam his people were in control to pass him; however, when he took the LT exam the demographics at NMPD had significantly changed thus no free answers were given out to him. Yes he was hired spent a short time on mids and then was promoted with absolutely no police experience. Pull his stats and you shall see how many felony arrests, car chases, tickets this clown as generated. Almost zero stats and yet he and Burges continue to pressure the officers to write everyone tickets and make bad arrests to boost stats. These clowns have no business holding any supervisory type position. Now this incideent with his pay off is not surprising. Aleem should be investigated and charged with a crime, and Juriga should be forced to payback the money, take a pay cut, and fired or suspended and have is certification revoked for unethical behavior.
Ok I’m not gonna go on a Juriga bashing episode because he is overall a nice guy. But nice doesn’t maker you a chief. He really hasn’t done anything in his whole entire career. The thought that he’s complaining for not being chosen as chief has nothing to do with his race or ethnicity. It has to do with his performance and actual documented experience as a leader. There are sergeants and commanders who actually have more experience in crime fighting, leadership, tactics etc than Juriga. Juriga has a commanding presence and that’s about it. Sidd, Estrugo, Shinn, Cuevas, all with less rank (and I can keep going) can do a better job leading than Juriga. Former Chief Elias wasn’t black, but was extremely incompetent. Eugene is black, but he is extremely competent, smart, and experienced. Once Chief Burgess retires, Eugene should be appointed as chief. Juriga please stop crying, and asking for money and hand me downs. You’ve had it pretty good. Former Chief Boyd’s biggest regret is Juriga. Anyone who knows her, knows this.
Juriga is a nice guy if you’re one of his illuminati friends or if you’re on the SWAT team. There are plenty of people who can tell you stories about him not being a nice guy. Specially if you have a problem with any one of his friends in the two groups mentioned above. Juriga will turn a blind eye and help cover for them. Just ask all the females in the detective bureau what it’s like working for him. Juriga allowed the entire unit to be a playground where all the males could do anything and say anything and the women couldn’t complain about any of it because he wouldn’t help. Juriga takes care of his boys above all and the females had to shut up and take it. Now he screams discrimination? What a two faced bald ass lying hypocrite that guy!
You know you’re a redneck if… You failed the lieutenant’s test as a major, got sent to the FBI Academy by your buddy, and still don’t know jack.
He hate me, he hate me! Stop yo cryin boy. It look like ghany made it rain on that “redneck” Least you could do is twerk. Every time that dude be gaining weight you know he be up to something.
Lying on the EEOC Complaint should be a crime. Chiefs were forced out? That’s a lie. They retired due to pending cuts. Discriminated against because he’s white? That’s how Juriga made major and later AC to begin with. Ain’t that something. And yes Elias wasn’t black. He was Haitian but he was white with blue eyes. That guy is so damn sneaky. He’s always been a liar and a racist. People beware. The only thing he was truthful about on that complaint is that they hate him. Now we all know why. Run away to BSO or Palm Beach Gardens with the rest of your crew where you belong. Assistant City Manager running the Police Department? That position exists nowhere!!!!!!!!!! Clown.
The ones who should really file a law suit and eeoc complaint are those 2 haitian officers who were discriminated against on the sergeant’s assessment test.
Now you know why we ain’t getting more new cars or raises. The money is going straight into Juriga’s pockets. Vote NO on this next contract. Juriga’s gonna get chief’s pay until he retires? Medical insurance until he’s 65 when he retires? And got 25k as immediate hush money. What the fucking fuck? All while he fans his big fat ass on the fourth floor. Shit I should be careful what I say. He may file another complaint and say everyone thinks he’s fat and ask for city manager’s pay. I hope the next city manager has a huge set of balls and common sense.
Lmao that guy bounces worse than Kristy Allie he does get fat as fuck. Too bad they didn’t do any drug testing on him I wonder how much steroids he’s done in his lifetime. Juriga has made a career of being a useless do nothing piece of shit. He’s a phony and that piece of fiction he wrote to the eeoc should prove to anyone who thought he was worth a shit that he’s a liar and he says whatever he has to just to get ahead. I hope when we get a new city manager they see right through him and fire his lazy Jenny Craig ass.
The city is controlled by the city council and ever since Andre Pierre it’s been a piece of shit.
Omg!!!!!!!!!
North Miami has had a hispanic chief and assistant chief, Lenny, is half Panamanian, and was a member of the hispanic officers association.He will even tell you, when it benefits him. On another note, someone should look into if its ethical to split the payments of the settlement into two checks, 24,000 and 7,000 is more than 25,000 and it should have gone to council. A contractor cannot split their invoice for different service providers to stay under the limit. Have you ever looked into just how many criminals work at North Miami, it would be an interesting story.
Interesting that you say Lenny claims “Hispanic” as his ethnicity since he’s the president of the South Florida Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (http://noblesfl.org/main2/index.php/executive-board/president). How fortunate that Lenny is in the position to play either the Hispanic card or the black card whenever it suits him. God Bless ‘Merica!
As for the split invoice, very interesting point. That’s exactly the strategy that failed when Evan Ross attempted to get his client (CH2M HILL) a gig with the City of North Miami Beach by splitting the offer into two $49K contracts in order to circumvent the bidding process. The City Manager there has a $50k discretionary spending limit without having to go before Mayor and Council. Evan’s plan backfired.
You’re right. It sure seems like Aleem used the same tactic. In his case, he pulled it off.
Everyone has an opinion. My opinion is that Larry Juriga is an incompetent racist. My opinion is not based on this blog. My opinion is based on experience. The opinion of this blogger and the facts exposed by this blogger just confirm my opinion. So let us vent, it’s healthy. And I should tell you that I’m White and Jewish and still think Larry Juriga is a racist. Most people share my opinion.
And I should tell you that I’m a White, Jewish Redneck (I beat you), but I have no personal knowledge whether or not Larry Juriga is a racist. That was not the reason for this blog. I just think it’s ridiculous that he’s getting so much money for what I consider a frivolous complaint. North Miami taxpayers should be FURIOUS!
Of course there should be no excuse for racism or discrimination, especially in a police department. And especially in one of the most diverse cities in the country.
According to the latest data (http://www.usa.com/north-miami-fl-population-and-races.htm), North Miami is 33.54% white, 58.96% black, 26.75% Hispanic, as well as a small percentage of “other.”
Of the approximate 60,000 residents of North Miami, approximately half are “native born” and half are “foreign born.” Of the “foreign born,” nearly all of them are from “Latin America,” which includes Haiti.
Aside from the fact that I’m statistics nerd, I only bring this up to point out that if anyone in the NMPD is being discriminated against, it’s Chief Lenny’s Haitian-American Assistant Chief Gary Eugene. He is the LOWEST PAID member of the Command Staff!
WHY?
In essence, Larry Juriga wins the “discrimination lottery” for being referred to as a “redneck,” while the person who is truly being discriminated against gets bupkes.
I’m still amazed at the irony.