A Hispanic police officer who was in charge of the NYPD unit that makes all civilian hires was abruptly transferred by his bosses earlier this year — for speaking too much Spanish, he claims in a new lawsuit.
Lt. Junior Carela worked for the Civilian Investigation Unit for four years when he was called into a meeting on March 16 and told he was being removed as the unit’s commanding officer “due to him speaking Spanish with employees in the office,” according to a Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
“In 21 years, this is the first time that I ever heard something like that,” Carela, 46, told The Post.
Carela, who has worked his way up through the NYPD’s ranks in Manhattan and the Bronx since 2002, said he was shocked by the edict — and the transfer to the Paid Detail Unit with no supervisory responsibility that would result in fewer chances for promotion or higher pay.
In four years with the unit, he went out of his way to make sure there were employees around him who spoke multiple languages so they could properly evaluate job candidates from other cultures, he said.
“Especially low-ranking cleaners, school crossing guards, people who in reality are very limited when it comes to speaking English,” he said. “I have people that speak Bengali. I have people that speak Russian.”
“We do the background investigations,” said Carela, who had only received perfect reviews in his time running his old unit.
Carela, who is from the Dominican Republic, lives in Arverne, Queens, and has a 14-year-old daughter, thinks his bosses were mad because he was complaining about not getting a discretionary promotion to Lieutenant Special Assignment.
The promotion provides an added $15,000 in base salary and about $10,000 more in overtime to lieutenant’s who aren’t in investigative spots.
“I was put in three times,” he said of the discretionary promotion that requires a referral from a boss. “I have perfect evaluations. I’m part of a small percentage of lieutenants that have a graduate degree.”
He claims the promotion process itself is discriminatory, citing the low percentage of Hispanic lieutenants promoted to the post.
Hispanics made up 22.56% of total NYPD lieutenants in 2021, but only 12.63% of of the ranks of Lieutenant Special Assignment, city data show.
“I guess they didn’t want to give it to me,” he said. “They could have come up with something better than speaking Spanish. Because to me this was stupid.”
The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, also names as defendants the two NYPD bosses who transferred him.
“The same NYPD higher-ups who demoted Lt. Carela for speaking Spanish are responsible for determining who receives discretionary promotions,” his lawyer, John Scola, said. “Their overtly racist statements explain the vast statistical discrepancies by race in promotions.”