Candidate Accepts Settlement

Sat., Jan. 1, 2000

An unsuccessful sheriff’s candidate who was fired by the victor the day after the election has agreed to accept $25,000 to drop his wrongful termination lawsuit.

Bob Guerro, an Adams County sheriff’s reserve deputy, was fired by incumbent Sheriff Mike Kline after the Sept. 15, 1998, Republican primary election. He sued Kline in U.S. District Court, claiming his constitutional rights of free speech and political expression had been violated.

Guerro had criticized his boss’s policies during the campaign. Kline’s lawyers argued that a sheriff has a right to fire a deputy who is not loyal.

Kline said he considered Guerro’s lawsuit, which sought unspecified damages, a nuisance suit that was settled to avoid an extended legal battle.

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