Torrevieja Council may appeal the decision that it’s guilty of harassing a police officer

Torrevieja City Council was “surprised” by the Constitutional Court’s decision that holds the City Council responsible for the actions of a local police officer who was harassed by his superiors after reporting wrongdoing but protects the officer. Councillor Federico Alarcón said today after reporting on the matters approved by the local government board.

The councillor said that they were surprised because the High Court of Justice and the Supreme Court “had repeatedly ruled in favour of the City Council” up until now. Now, they said, there has been “a 180 degree turn.”

“We weren’t expecting it,” Alarcón admitted. He also said that the City Council is still processing its shock and is looking over “this voluminous ruling” to see if there is a way to appeal it “following the trail of what the TSJ and the Supreme Court have said.” This depends on whether the legal reports say it’s possible, because if they don’t, “we are not going to spend money from the people of Torrevieja on seeking this subsequent aid.” Since there is no way to challenge the Constitutional Court’s decisions, it would go to a European court.

The Constitutional Court says that there was “institutional harassment” and that the local government, which is led by Eduardo Dolón, did not do anything to stop the abuse of the person who was affected. So, it unanimously upholds an appeal for protection filed by a local police officer from Torrevieja who said that the officers were harassing him at work. It also says that the City Council must pay 95,816 euros in damages, plus interest for not investigating and harassing the agent.

Between April 2013 and September 2016, she was harassed after she told some of her coworkers about problems with not keeping track of fine money and carrying out selective checks in public places to have fun.

Eight years ago, the agent began the legal fight. He had to leave the Torrevieja Local Police to take a new job. In the first place, the Court of First Instance agreed with him, and the Constitutional Court also did the same.

The City Council of Torrevieja took their case to the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community, which agreed with them. The agent then took the case to the Supreme Court, but it was turned down. But he insisted on going to court, even though it would cost him more than 10,000 euros.