US police officer to sue after being sacked over gay porn film
A gay police officer who was sacked after failing to disclose he once acted in a porn film has said he will sue for discrimination.
Michael Verdugo, 35, was fired from Hollywood Police Department in Florida in January last year. An investigation found he had failed to tell senior officers that he starred in the 1996 bondage film Rope Rituals.
The investigation was carried out after a video of the film surfaced on the internet in 2008. Verdugo had not mentioned his part in the film when he applied to join the force in 2001.
Along with losing his job, he was disinvited from appearing on a television show about home makeovers. He has been nurturing a career as an interior designer.
Verdugo, who appeared as Jeremy Wess in the film, told the Miami Herald he had not been shown taking part in hardcore sex. He said: “It was all role-playing bondage. I was tied. I used handcuffs later on in my career.”
He is claiming he was fired because he is gay and has asked his lawyer to file a claim for discrimination and wrongful termination.
He told the newspaper that if a male officer appeared in a straight porn film, his colleagues would be “high-fiving him in the hallway.”
Police spokeswoman Raelin Storey said: “This had nothing to do with Mike Verdugo’s sexuality. It had to do with his honesty. The application process to become a police officer is very arduous.”
