VPOA president alleges Vallejo city officials discussed firing him in secret meetings

VALLEJO – Vallejo Police Officers Association President Lt. Michael Nichelini alleged in an amended lawsuit filed last week that top city officials held regular meetings to discuss the goals of dismantling the police union’s grip on the city, including strategies to fire him.

Nichelini’s lawsuit, first filed in 2021, alleges that among other things, the city of Vallejo had an official policy to subject Nichelini to “spurious allegations which would result in internal discipline, for the express purpose of dismantling the leadership of the VPOA.” Nichelini was fired shortly after the lawsuit was filed.

The newest version of the lawsuit follows a 27-page order last month by U.S. District Judge Dale Drozd granting the city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. 

In his ruling, Drozd found the allegations that the city had created an official policy to try and dismantle the VPOA leadership to be “speculative and conclusory” and that Nichelini had alleged “no facts to support their conclusion.” But Drozd allowed Nichelini to amend the lawsuit to correct the issues.

In response, Nichelini’s amended complaint alleges that top city officials held a series of meetings in 2020 and 2021 that discussed the city’s police reform policy goals, which included methods to counter intransigence by the VPOA, such as firing Nichelini.

The “Legal and Policy Team #2” meeting participants included then-police Chief Shawny Williams, then-City Manager Greg Nyhoff, then-Assistant City Manager Anne Cardwell, then-HR director Heather Ruiz and Chief Assistant City Attorney Randy Risner, according to the lawsuit.

According to Nichelini’s lawsuit, the group’s goals were to establish a plan for the city to issue a declaration of a public safety emergency in response to continued turmoil in the department, but the discussions also include how to break the VPOA's hold on the department.

The “City has tried to work with VPOA but VPOA is talking out of both sides of their mouth,” one unidentified participant wrote in an email, according to Nichelini’s lawsuit. “They have resisted every single reform effort the chief has proposed down to changing one word.”

“I hired Chief Williams to come here and do a job, and he is being blocked at every turn by the VPOA,” another unnamed participant who appears to be Nyhoff wrote, according to Nichelini’s lawsuit. “We need to signal the time has come for change, it is time to stop talking and time to start taking action- to demonstrate through action that this behavior will no longer be tolerated.” 

The group also agendized discussions of ongoing internal investigations into Nichelini’s conduct, according to the lawsuit, including his sharing an image in a VPOA email of a 1907 police badge with a swastika engraved on it and his filming civil rights attorney Melissa Nold using his cellphone during a City Council meeting. They considered options such as demoting Nichelini to officer, having him sign a non-disparagement agreement with the city, or forcing him to transfer to the county sheriff’s office, the lawsuit states.

In his lawsuit, Nichelini alleged that during the investigation into the swastika in particular the city had portrayed him as a “racist cop” with “career ending consequences.” But in his order, Drozd found that Nichelini had not adequately supported that claim.  

Nichelini sent the email to VPOA members on March 4, 2020, and included the image of one of the earliest Vallejo police badges, which Nichelini’s lawsuit states belonged to former Officer George N. Frazier. The badge predated the use of the symbol by Nazi Germany and Nichelini’s lawsuit argues that it was a Native American symbol for peace and prosperity. 

Nichelini’s lawsuit states that Williams said in a meeting later that month that he accepted Nichelini’s explanation for the use of the badge, however the department started an investigation anyway. Williams and Nyhoff revealed the investigation in an Oct. 1, 2020, public forum, which was reported by the East Bay Times, as the City Council prepared to vote on the emergency declaration.

Nichelini’s lawsuit also states that the badge investigation was disclosed again in an Oct. 5 press release, which “falsely accused President Nichelini of a hate crime.” 

However, an Oct. 5 press release from the department does not mention Nichelini or state that sharing the image was a hate crime. It included a statement from Williams saying that he had opened an investigation into the matter after receiving complaints from Vallejo police officers.

"Racism will not be tolerated in our department, a swastika is a universal symbol of hate and racism and is not accepted here," Williams said. "Anyone who would imply or suggest otherwise is tone deaf and dishonors the memories and lives of millions of Jewish people and others who died during the Holocaust."

Drozd found that Nichelini had failed to state specific actions by city officials that violated Nichelini’s civil rights or due process rights because he was adequately notified of disciplinary actions against him and given an opportunity to respond.

The final investigation into Nichelini’s conduct started after a December 2020 email that Nichelini wrote to then San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis Taylor, who had announced he was relocating to Georgia. Nichelini wrote from a VPOA email account, “We will warn our Georgia colleagues of your impending arrival,” which Taylor interpreted as a threat.

Shortly after Taylor made the email public, the legal and policy team met to “see how this impacts other cases and how to best leverage this,” according to Nichelini’s lawsuit.

Nichelini was fired shortly after that. Attorney Michael Rains, who handled Nichelini’s arbitration, said he was fired for the badge issue and the email to Taylor. But an arbitrator overturned the termination last year and ordered Nichelini reinstated with back pay, finding that the incidents were protected union activity, according to Rains. 

Drozd previously found that Nichelini did not show retaliatory intent by city officials for his termination. Nichelini’s lawsuit seeks $10 million in damages.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct information about an Oct. 5 press release from the Vallejo Police Department.