HAMMOND | U.S. District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen on Friday ruled in favor of Blanca Camacho in her wrongful termination suit against East Chicago. Late last year, a federal jury returned verdicts totaling $250,000 in favor of Camacho.

Camacho's attorney, Anthony DeBonis, said that Van Bokkelen entered judgment on the verdict in full and he and his client were pleased.

Damian Rico, East Chicago spokesman, said City Attorney Carmen Fernandez would file an appeal.

"We are appealing in hopes that we have reasonable means to prevail," Rico said Saturday. "I am pretty sure the process is under way already."

DeBonis said Saturday he was not surprised.

"They have dragged out all of this ligation," he said. "It has been their practice, and they have avoided paying anything on these cases until the last possible moment."

East Chicago attorneys would have to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago, which will take about a year and a half, DeBonis said.

Camacho was working as a restaurant inspector when she was fired in 2005, just months after Mayor George Pabey took office. She said she was fired for political reasons and sued Pabey, the city and its human resources chief, records show.

Jurors in November awarded her $250,000, including $25,000 in punitive damages, for violation of her First Amendment rights.

In April, East Chicago attorneys filed a motion asking the judge to reverse the verdict and enter a judgment on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

Documents show Camacho is among more than two dozen former East Chicago workers who were fired shortly after Pabey took office. She is the only city worker to have a jury decide in her favor.