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Isetts v. Roseland: - April
5, 2001.
A 15-year police officer accepted $650,000 on April 5, 2000 to
settle his claims that Roseland retaliated against him for alleging
that other officers engaged in misconduct and cronyism.
Plaintiff claimed he was excluded from overtime and eventually
reassigned to dangerous duty in which he was in contact with gang
members who knew he was involved in the shooting death of one of
their members. Plaintiff's counsel - Wong Fleming.
Abreu v. County of Altantic
- April 5, 2001
Eighteen female officers at the Atlantic County Justice
facility settled their sex bias and harassment suit for
$648,000. The women claimed that supervisors made derogatory
sexual remarks, engaged in sexual innuendo and discriminated against
them in promotions. Plaintiffs had sought $3.6 million.
Green v. Atlantic City
Police Dept. - April 4, 2001
An Atlantic County jury on April 4 awarded $605,000 to an
Atlantic City Police Department clerk-typist who claimed that a
police officer touched her breast. Carolyn Earley's total
award includes $565,000 in punitive damages. Soon after trial
began on Feb. 5, a second woman came forward alleging that Bonanni
tried to grab her breast a few months after he touched Earley's.
The trial lasted for 20 days. The jury awarded $40,000 in
compensatory damages for Earley's emotional distress high blood
pressure, debilitating headaches, angina and skin rashes caused by
the stress of the incident. The panel allocated 60 percent to
the city and 40 percent to Bonanni, though the city is liable for
the entire amount. The jury assessed $560,000 in punitive damages
against the city and $5,000 against Bonanni. Earley missed
several days of work after the incident.
Sutley v. Atlantic City
Police Department - December 20, 2000 Clifford
Van Syoc has settled two whistle-blower suits brought by police
officers formerly employed by Atlantic City Police Department for a
total of 3.6 Million following a jury verdict in plaintiff's
favor. Gary Sutley, a former detective, agreed to take 2.8
million to settle his suit which charged that the police department
fired him after he helped the FBI investigate fellow officers for
using and selling drugs. The jury awarded 1.05 million in
compensatory damages, which included about $600,000 in lost income,
past and future, and $450,000 in emotional distress. The jury
also awarded 1.8 million in punitive damages. Atlantic City
will also allow Sutley to apply for his pension for which he becomes
eligible this month and has agreed to remove a disciplinary notice
from his personnel file and to inform anyone who inquires that
Sutley resigned in good standing. Atlantic
City pays an additional $800,000 for retaliation against a CEPA and
LAD witness The week
before, Atlantic City agreed to pay 800,000 to settle Captain Robert
Schwartz's suit, which asserted that his testimony in Sutley's case,
as well as in the 1995 sexual harassment suit by former police
sergeant Donna Hurley led to a series of undesirable
transfers. The City claimed that Schwartz was never assigned
to lesser positions and always retained the same rank and
salary. The City claimed that Schwartz's transfers were part
of he normal shifting of duties. Schwartz withdrew his claim
for lost wages prior to trial. Schwartz's case settled on
December 14, 2000 during the third week of trial before July Carol
Higbee. The attorney for the City stated that it settled to
avoid the risk of having to pay Syoc's attorney's fees for which it
would have been liable under the fee-shifting provision of CEPA even
if the jury returned only a nominal award.
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