The woman who was demoted from that senior rank in the Pittsburgh Police Bureau last month was reinstated yesterday after a federal district judge found that Cmdr. McNeilly acted in good faith by going to City Council with her concerns about the nomination of Dennis Regan to the position of public safety director back in October.But the bad news for Mayor Luke might be found in this paragraph:
"The public interest is always served by disclosure of wrongdoing and undue and/or inappropriate influence by public officials in police department matters," said Chief U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose in granting Cmdr. McNeilly a preliminary injunction. A demotion for a good faith report of that wrongdoing has a "chilling effect," she continued.
Judge Ambrose said in her opinion she felt Cmdr. McNeilly had a reasonable likelihood of succeeding with her lawsuit. In addition to being reinstated to her former position, she is seeking unspecified monetary damages and attorney fees.Uh-oh. Monetary damages and attorney fees.
For the two or three people in this city who don't know the details of this story, the Trib has a good summary:
But ...[McNeilly] claimed Regan improperly interfered with police business several times, including with her attempt to discipline Officer Francis "Frank" Rende, whose sister is the mayor's executive secretary. To help prove her point, McNeilly attached a copy of a discipline request report she had submitted against Rende for a pattern of abusing sick time to work off-duty details [to an e-mail she sent to the City Council].
A city-led investigation determined McNeilly broke department policy by including the confidential personnel file, and Police Chief Nate Harper ordered the demotion.
Un-oh. Another oopsie for young Mayor Luke.Ambrose said McNeilly's actions were protected by the U.S. Constitution and Pennsylvania's Whistleblower Law.
"The public interest is always served by disclosure of wrongdoing and undue and/or inappropriate influence by public officials in police department matters," Ambrose said. "The chilling effect of discipline and demotion to a police officer who makes a good faith report of what she believes in good faith to be wrongdoing and inappropriate influence in government never serves the public interest."
If anything this little episode should convince Mayor Luke that saying something doesn't necessarily make it so. Judge Ambrose said McNeilly's actions were protected by the Constitution AND Pennsylvania's Whistleblower law. Mayor Luke said in December that it wasn't.
Who do you think has a better idea of what's in the law? Mayor Luke either needs better lawyers (if he's following their legal advice) or he needs to follow their legal advice (if he's not).
Luke should make this go away ASAP. Say sorry and move on. I don't really want our law department in a face-off with one of our top officers.
ReplyDeleteThis is bad spending, and bad karma.
Be done with it Luke. Settle swiftly.
Chalk it up to a rookie mistake. Move on.
Whistle blower cases involving public agencies are always interesting. Generally the whistle blower has to violate some rules to blow the whistle. I think the city could have noted that without demoting Commander McNeilly. But then the mayor's office should have handled the situation immediately rather than let it go that far.
ReplyDeleteCommander McNeilly should be compensated very well for this. She deserves it. And while I know this will never happen, it should come directly from the pockets of the Mayor and Chief of Police. On another note a young black man was shot by police last night and the Chief and another officer were seen laughing very loudly at the crime scene. Very unprofessional. A deputy chief went and asked them to stop laughing and they contiuned to laugh even more. Shameful!
ReplyDeleteThis action proves that age does matter when it comes to positions like this. I for one would like to see a mayor who would run the city like a business. Take care of city workers, provide for the citizens as everyone must work together. Incidents like the one with Commander Mcneilly simply show Mayor Luke is not ready to lead a major city.
ReplyDelete