Posted by (+2324) 13 years ago
Courtesy MilesCityStar.com
Sgt. sues city, ex-police chief
By Elaine Forman
Miles City Police Sgt. Mark Reddick has filed a lawsuit against the City of Miles City and former police chief Lissa Power for causing him to lose substantial income and benefits he was entitled to and causing him severe mental and emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, harm to his reputation and other general damages.
The case was filed in 16th Judicial District Court on Sept. 4.
Reddick has been a police officer in Miles City since Sept. 1, 1993.
The court document filed by Reddick states that he was "a capable, conscientious, and diligent police officer that performed his duties in an exemplary manner. ... Reddick led the police department in the amount of traffic citations written as well as the number of DUI arrests per year."
Reddick was reinstated to the department in Aug. 1998 after being terminated for undisclosed reasons.The city had agreed not to use the termination against him in future disciplinary action.
In his complaint, Reddick maintains that Chief Power wrote then Mayor George Kurkowski that Reddick "had been guilty of misconduct and she was disappointed and did not support Reddick's reinstatement and proactive enforcement style."
Reddick believes that from Aug. 1998 through 2006, when Power left the department, she retaliated by embarking "on a malicious and intentional course of action that was calculated to discourage him from continuing his employment," the court document states.
The document goes on to state that "Power began to micro-manage and critique Reddick's enforcement actions, even though there was no legitimate basis" to do so.
It states that "During a meeting on Feb. 22, 2006, Power stated that she had a `responsibility to protect the citizens from Mark.'"
"In May of 2000, Reddick was severely disciplined for two minor incidents," and "In November of 2007, Reddick was unfairly passed over for a promotion to the positions of either Assistant Chief or Lieutenant Detective. As a result, Reddick has lost and continues to lose substantial income and benefits to the present day."
The document states that (from August 1998 to the present), the defendants:
- subjected Reddick to ridicule and humiliation;
- denied him promotions and ability to be meaningfully considered for promotions;
- denied him the ability and opportunity to work as a fully capable and qualified police officer despite his experience, qualifications, training and seniority;
- promoted another officer with less experience, qualifications, training or seniority;
- relied on arbitrary criteria in making job assignments, compensation, overtime and promotional decisions, to Reddick's detriment;
- attempted to terminate him or discipline him without justification;
- attempted to interfere with his involvement with the police union;
- denied him fair treatment by penalizing him in his attempts to grieve or appeal unfair discipline;
- denied him substantial pay and desirable work hours and shifts;
- subjected him to differ
ent and more rigorous requirements than his peers;
- restricted duties that limited his ability to earn overtime pay;
- arbitrarily limited his authority, endangering him and other officers and citizens;
- arbitrarily applied different standards to his job performances and overscrutinized his job performance;
- reclassified job assignments when others with less training were not subjected to similar reclassifications;
- retaliated against him for his legal enforcement actions and his reinstatement;
- failed to provide Reddick with adequate job descriptions and directions with respect to newly assigned tasks;
- attempted to impose excessive discipline upon Reddick;
- impeded his appointment as assistant chief by then Mayor Butch Grenz;
- made spurious allegations of policy violations and criminal conduct by Reddick;
- failed to perform required evaluations on his performance, in violation of procedure, despite Reddick's requests;
- failed to include positive performance evaluations and letters of commendation from others in his personnel files; included negative materials in the file without notifying him;
- made untrue derogatory comments, innuendos and false allegations of criminal misconduct about Reddick to city officials and the local newspaper;
-required him to drive his own vehicle while on duty;
- refused to support, offer assistance or exonerate him when serious, false allegations of criminal conduct were made against him;
- placed him in an unsafe working environment by scheduling him to work alone during night shift, contrary to applicable procedures.
Reddick asks for damages to fully compensate him for their retaliation, to compensate for their violation of the Montana Safety Act, to compensate for their violation of their duty to adequately supervise their employees, for the malicious conduct, for lost wages and other benefits, attorneys fees and costs, for leave to amend his complaint, and for other relief the court finds just.
Mayor Joe Whalen said Thursday that he received the lawsuit about three weeks ago and immediately forwarded it to the Montana Municipal Insurance Authority, which handles the city's liability insurance, and will appoint a law firm to defend the city.
Thoughts?
Sgt. sues city, ex-police chief
By Elaine Forman
Miles City Police Sgt. Mark Reddick has filed a lawsuit against the City of Miles City and former police chief Lissa Power for causing him to lose substantial income and benefits he was entitled to and causing him severe mental and emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, harm to his reputation and other general damages.
The case was filed in 16th Judicial District Court on Sept. 4.
Reddick has been a police officer in Miles City since Sept. 1, 1993.
The court document filed by Reddick states that he was "a capable, conscientious, and diligent police officer that performed his duties in an exemplary manner. ... Reddick led the police department in the amount of traffic citations written as well as the number of DUI arrests per year."
Reddick was reinstated to the department in Aug. 1998 after being terminated for undisclosed reasons.The city had agreed not to use the termination against him in future disciplinary action.
In his complaint, Reddick maintains that Chief Power wrote then Mayor George Kurkowski that Reddick "had been guilty of misconduct and she was disappointed and did not support Reddick's reinstatement and proactive enforcement style."
Reddick believes that from Aug. 1998 through 2006, when Power left the department, she retaliated by embarking "on a malicious and intentional course of action that was calculated to discourage him from continuing his employment," the court document states.
The document goes on to state that "Power began to micro-manage and critique Reddick's enforcement actions, even though there was no legitimate basis" to do so.
It states that "During a meeting on Feb. 22, 2006, Power stated that she had a `responsibility to protect the citizens from Mark.'"
"In May of 2000, Reddick was severely disciplined for two minor incidents," and "In November of 2007, Reddick was unfairly passed over for a promotion to the positions of either Assistant Chief or Lieutenant Detective. As a result, Reddick has lost and continues to lose substantial income and benefits to the present day."
The document states that (from August 1998 to the present), the defendants:
- subjected Reddick to ridicule and humiliation;
- denied him promotions and ability to be meaningfully considered for promotions;
- denied him the ability and opportunity to work as a fully capable and qualified police officer despite his experience, qualifications, training and seniority;
- promoted another officer with less experience, qualifications, training or seniority;
- relied on arbitrary criteria in making job assignments, compensation, overtime and promotional decisions, to Reddick's detriment;
- attempted to terminate him or discipline him without justification;
- attempted to interfere with his involvement with the police union;
- denied him fair treatment by penalizing him in his attempts to grieve or appeal unfair discipline;
- denied him substantial pay and desirable work hours and shifts;
- subjected him to differ
ent and more rigorous requirements than his peers;
- restricted duties that limited his ability to earn overtime pay;
- arbitrarily limited his authority, endangering him and other officers and citizens;
- arbitrarily applied different standards to his job performances and overscrutinized his job performance;
- reclassified job assignments when others with less training were not subjected to similar reclassifications;
- retaliated against him for his legal enforcement actions and his reinstatement;
- failed to provide Reddick with adequate job descriptions and directions with respect to newly assigned tasks;
- attempted to impose excessive discipline upon Reddick;
- impeded his appointment as assistant chief by then Mayor Butch Grenz;
- made spurious allegations of policy violations and criminal conduct by Reddick;
- failed to perform required evaluations on his performance, in violation of procedure, despite Reddick's requests;
- failed to include positive performance evaluations and letters of commendation from others in his personnel files; included negative materials in the file without notifying him;
- made untrue derogatory comments, innuendos and false allegations of criminal misconduct about Reddick to city officials and the local newspaper;
-required him to drive his own vehicle while on duty;
- refused to support, offer assistance or exonerate him when serious, false allegations of criminal conduct were made against him;
- placed him in an unsafe working environment by scheduling him to work alone during night shift, contrary to applicable procedures.
Reddick asks for damages to fully compensate him for their retaliation, to compensate for their violation of the Montana Safety Act, to compensate for their violation of their duty to adequately supervise their employees, for the malicious conduct, for lost wages and other benefits, attorneys fees and costs, for leave to amend his complaint, and for other relief the court finds just.
Mayor Joe Whalen said Thursday that he received the lawsuit about three weeks ago and immediately forwarded it to the Montana Municipal Insurance Authority, which handles the city's liability insurance, and will appoint a law firm to defend the city.
Thoughts?