Date: Fri 01-Dec-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

police-Kotch-DeJoseph-lawsuit

Full Text:

Kotch Wins Symbolic Victory In Suit Against Police Chief

A federal jury has ruled that Police Chief Michael DeJoseph violated former

police Patrolman John Kotch's right to freedom of speech.

The jury in US District Court in New Haven last week awarded Mr Kotch a

symbolic $1 in compensation for the violation of his civil rights by the

police chief.

The jury also decided that that Chief DeJoseph should not have suspended Mr

Kotch from work for one day for reading a newspaper while on duty. The jury

ordered that Chief DeJoseph pay Mr Kotch $144, representing the pay that Mr

Kotch lost while on the one-day suspension.

In his lawsuit against the police chief, Mr Kotch charged that he was given

the work suspension as a penalty for his public criticism of police department

management.

The jury didn't award Mr Kotch any money to cover his attorney's fees for the

lawsuit as Mr Kotch had requested. The legal fees are thought to amount to

thousands of dollars. Mr Kotch reportedly plans to seek court action to force

Chief DeJoseph to cover those legal fees.

In November 1993, after Robert Cascella had been elected first selectman but

before he had taken office, Mr Cascella saw Mr Kotch reading a newspaper on

duty while in a police patrol car in the rear parking lot of Town Hall South.

Mr Cascella then filed a formal complaint on the matter with the police

department. After reviewing the complaint, Chief DeJoseph ordered that Mr

Kotch receive a one-day suspension from work without pay. The Police

Commission endorsed the punishment. In his lawsuit, Mr Kotch claimed the

one-day suspension was unfair punishment.

The jury decisions concluded the trial of a civil lawsuit filed by Mr Kotch in

the summer of 1994 against Chief DeJoseph, Mr Cascella, and Police Commission

Chairman Richard Sturdevant. A federal judge eliminated Mr Sturdevant and Mr

Cascella as defendants in the lawsuit.

In the suit, Mr Kotch claimed that Chief DeJoseph, Mr Sturdevant and Mr

Cascella conspired to thwart his police union activities. Mr Kotch, an

outspoken critic of the police department's management, served as president of

the Newtown Police Union for about 15 years. Before retiring, Mr Kotch had

been a patrolman for more than 20 years.

Before his departure from the police force, Mr Kotch had been out of work on

disability leave for several months. On leaving, he received a monetary

settlement for a workers compensation claim. The settlement's terms have never

been disclosed.

Of the lawsuit, Chief DeJoseph said November 27 "John (Kotch) was interested

in money and he failed miserably."