5 officers claim discrimination by Hoboken Police Department

(New Jersey - WABC, October 24, 2007) (WABC) -- Five Hoboken Police officers filed a federal lawsuit claiming discrimination against the department.

The federal lawsuit they filed claims that a commanding officer is a white supremacist and that the police chief has taken no action against him.

The commander who was sued, Lt. Angelo Andriani, was not at headquarters on Wednesday. A desk sergeant in the morning declined to take a message for him, and did not have a current phone extension for the lieutenant.

An officer Wednesday evening at police headquarters took a message for Andriani, but it was not immediately returned. No listings for Andriani could be found in Verona.

Police Chief Carmen V. LaBruno did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Bill Campbell, a spokesman for Hoboken Mayor David Roberts, said they had not yet seen the lawsuit and could not comment.

In the lawsuit, the officers claim that Andriani regularly used the n-word and said "the white race was destined to rule and dominate others."

"It's very difficult to do your duties under these circumstances," Sgt. Edwin Pantoja, one of the officers who sued, told reporters at a news conference announcing the lawsuit.

Another of the officers, Detective George Fonseca, said, "You suck it up and do what you got to do to survive. I have a family to support." Fonseca, a former Marine, choked up as he related that his children by his first wife, a black woman, are biracial.

According to the lawsuit, when the Hispanic police complained to Andriani about his behavior, he would "respond with threats, intimidation and harassment."

The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages to be paid by the city and Andriani.

The Hispanic officers also charged that from 2004 to 2006, Andriani ordered them to perform chores at his home in Verona, including digging holes for a deck, cleaning his boat, and shucking 10 bushels of corn.

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