Ex-detective loses case against EDC

A six-day trial ended with El Dorado County winning a discrimination case brought forward by retired sheriff’s Detective Rick Fitzgerald.

It took the eight jurors in U.S. District Court in Sacramento three hours to deliberate before rendering the verdict.

Fitzgerald filed the complaint in January 2013. He said he was the victim of age discrimination, retaliation and constructive termination from his job. He worked for EDSO from Feb. 23, 1991, to Sept. 7, 2012.

Also named in the suit were Sheriff John D’Agostini and former Undersheriff Rich Williams. They, too, were exonerated.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report