By Christopher Baxter/The Star-Ledger
on May 28, 2014
A veteran state trooper claims in a lawsuit that his exemplary career was derailed by two superiors because he refused to sign nominating petitions supporting Chris Christie’s first campaign for governor.
In the lawsuit, filed May 15 in state Superior Court in Mercer County, Detective Sgt. 1st Class John Pizzuro says he was approached by a colleague, Detective Sgt. 1st Class Ronald Hampton, in 2009 while working for the division’s Official Corruption Unit.
Hampton, while on official time, told Pizzuro that he was working for the campaign and had been asked to obtain petition signatures to get Christie on the ballot, and then presented a list that included the names of about 10 troopers, according to the lawsuit.
Pizzuro said he refused to sign and noted the request was against State Police regulations.
"Hampton again instructed (Pizzuro) to sign the petition stating that ‘you have to sign it if you want things to get better,’ " according to the lawsuit.
After again refusing to sign, Pizzuro claims Hampton called him a derogatory term and walked away.
Pizzuro alleges his rebuke of Hampton came back to haunt him last year, when Hampton was promoted to lieutenant and became his supervisor, and Pizzuro was subsequently denied the same rank on several occasions despite being first in line for the job.
An attorney for Pizzuro, George Daggett, declined to elaborate on the complaint, and spokesmen for the state Attorney General’s Office and State Police declined comment. Troopers are prohibited under regulation from commenting.
A spokesman for Christie’s 2009 campaign could not be reached for comment on what role, if any, Hampton had in the campaign.
The lawsuit is the latest filed against the State Police alleging its promotional system, one of the most subjective in the country, can be manipulated to reward friends and associates of supervisors and punish those who fall out of favor or speak out against wrongdoing...
This portion not available on this blog- click on lik below for full article.
...The lawsuit alleges Hampton’s actions "were in direct retaliation" for Pizzuro’s refusal to sign the nominating petitions for Christie in 2009, and that Hampton used his position to influence Guidetti and put a stop to Pizzuro’s career.
Pizzuro is seeking an unspecified amount of damages under the state’s whistleblower law.
Read full article here: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/05/veteran_nj_state_police_trooper_alleges_retaliation_for_refusal_to_back_christies_2009_campaign.html#incart_river
This is a great example of why civil service should never be disbanded as Slovernor Christie desires. Civil Service exams and rules help keep cronyism and nepotism to a minimum (but cronyism and nepotism, as well as bully-ism, are a norm in Christie's government and his spoiled rich boy culture). This is also a good example of the Slovenor Christopher Christie Government and how its culture IS a culture of bullying and strong-arming to get its way. It is finally time to really cut the fat out of Trenton (no, a secret operation to band the fat-boy's belly will not suffice!).
No comments:
Post a Comment