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A Few Clouds Former attorney to sue city
Republican nominee for L.B. judge says he was fired after campaign announcement
A city attorney who was fired 48 hours after he announced his run for Long Beach City Court judge intends to file a $1 million federal civil rights lawsuit against the city.
Former Assistant Corporation Counsel Ted Hommel, who worked for the city for more than two years, said City Manager Jack Schnirman fired him on May 8 after he announced his candidacy as the Republican nominee for City Court judge just two days earlier.
Hommel — who is running against incumbent Judge Roy Tepper, a Democrat, for election in November — said that he was not given a reason for his termination, but believes the move was the result of political retribution by the Democratic administration.
“I think it’s pretty clear that there was no plausible justification for my termination other than my choice to run for City Court judge,” Hommel said at a press conference in front of City Hall on May 10. “This is bullying and it was politically motivated.”
Hommel's attorney, Francis X. McQuade, said that the city was served with a notice of claim last week in advance of Hommel’s suit in U.S. Federal District Court, where he will seek $1 million in addition to punitive damages.
McQuade claims that the firing was illegal because it violates Hommel’s constitutional rights to free expression and equal protection. McQuade also said they may file a separate lawsuit against the city because, he claims, Hommel’s termination violated New York state labor law.
“We maintain that the firing was politically-motivated and in violation of his civil rights — there was no apparent just cause for his firing,” McQuade said.
The city has 30 days to look into Hommel’s termination, at which point he will file the suit, McQuade said, adding that he believes such an investigation is unlikely.
“We would not just be asking for him to be reinstated, but also to renounce what they’ve done,” McQuade said.
Hommel is a lifelong Long Beach resident who is married with two children, and has worked as an attorney for 35 years, both in private practice and as a deputy Nassau County attorney.
