Sgt. named in police discrimination lawsuit to return to duty

Gary Shaklee will return to work July 5, following five months of leave

Jason Pohl
The Coloradoan
Fort Collins Police Services Sgt. Gary Shaklee answers questions for the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force in this 2011 file photo taken in Denver.

After spending five months on paid administrative leave, the Fort Collins police sergeant at the center of a discrimination lawsuit has been cleared to return to work. 

Gary Shaklee will return to duty July 5 and retain his rank of sergeant following the conclusion of a third-party investigation into the patrol supervisor.

Fort Collins Police Services Interim Chief Terry Jones decided to reinstate Shaklee to active duty after reviewing the report and considering input from Shaklee's superiors, spokeswoman Kate Kimble confirmed over the weekend.

Findings from those reports will be shielded from the public. However, some "high-level information about the process" will be released once all investigations related to the since-settled lawsuit are finalized, she said. 

"Details about any disciplinary decisions or corrective actions are confidential, and personnel information of this nature will not be released at any time," Kimble said.

Shaklee is the only patrol supervisor currently on leave from FCPS, Kimble said.

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Shaklee was placed on leave Jan. 24, days after the city agreed to pay $425,000 to two now former minority officers in an out-of-court settlement of their lawsuit brought against the agency. The officers alleged FCPS leadership passed them over for promotions because they were Hispanic, despite high test marks.

The settlement did not imply liability or wrongdoing on the city's behalf, officials have maintained.

Shaklee and former Deputy Chief Don Vagge were the primary defendants in the lawsuit, which was generally limited to complaints regarding officers' race and ethnicity.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs and the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police insisted the matters went far beyond any individual personnel issues and called for a deeper investigation of FCPS, which the city ultimately ordered.

Shaklee's placement on leave was followed two weeks later when Assistant Chief Jerry Schiager was placed on a term of paid leave that remains ongoing.

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FCPS officials have maintained throughout the investigation of the lawsuit and related issues that "placement on administrative leave is not disciplinary in nature." 

City Manager Darin Atteberry last week said the decision on the final administrative leave matter — Schiager's — remains "several weeks" out. The process was substantially delayed, Atteberry said, due to the April resignation of former Chief John Hutto.

Reporter Jason Pohl covers law enforcement for the Coloradoan. Follow him on Twitter: @pohl_jason.