NEWS

Morris Twp. cop sues over 60-hour pay loss

Peggy Wright
@PeggyWrightDR

MORRIS TWP. Township police Sgt. Sean O'Hare has appealed to state Superior Court a 60-hour pay loss that was imposed after the township committee accepted a hearing officer's finding that O'Hare disseminated a vulgar email that disparaged the business administrator.

Morris Township Police Sgt. Sean O'Hare, July 2015.

O'Hare's attorney, Ashley V. Whitney, filed a complaint that was made public Tuesday in Superior Court, Morristown, and seeks a fresh review of the disciplinary hearing and evidence that resulted in the Township Committee's 4-0 vote in February to suspend O'Hare for five days, or the equivalent of 60 hours of pay totaling about $3,500.

In memorializing the disciplinary action in March, the committee gave Police Chief John K. McGuinness the option — which he chose — of taking away 60 hours of compensatory and personal time that O'Hare had accrued, rather than taking away direct pay.

O'Hare's complaint says the discipline was unfair and asks a judge to declare the action null and void, remove the suspension from his employment record and award him all pay that was withheld.

   SEE ALSO: Morris cop caught in free speech vs. ‘pot-stirring’ tangle http://dailyre.co/1MIQ2K9

"Without the court's intervention, plaintiff's employment record will be tarnished by the flawed discipline which will adversely affect his chances for promotion and permanently harm his career. The disciplinary action has caused and will continue to cause plaintiff to suffer financial, emotional and harm to his reputation for which he must be made whole," the lawsuit said.

The committee last year hired attorney Noel E. Schablik to act as a hearing officer on the disciplinary case involving O'Hare. Attorney John Iaciofano, special counsel to the committee on police matters, prosecuted the administrative charge at a hearing that was held in public at O'Hare's request.

During a two-day hearing last summer, Schablik heard testimony from Business Administrator Timothy Quinn, the police chief and others before he issued a written decision in November that concluded O'Hare violated Police Department rules and regulations by engaging in conduct unbecoming a police officer that brought "derision and disrespect" to the administration.

The prospect of a 20-day unpaid suspension had been contemplated, but the police chief ultimately sought a 10-day unpaid suspension. As the hearing officer, Schablik recommended a shorter, five-day suspension to the committee, which by law acts as "the appropriate authority" with the power to accept or reject the hearing officer's guilty finding and impose, reject or modify recommended punishment for police officers.

Schablik wrote both a decision on his guilty finding and one on his recommendation for the five-day discipline. He wrote that O'Hare had an impressive history as an officer before the email episode, which included commendations from the department and from citizens. But he said there was one incident that stood out: O'Hare had rejected the option of accepting an informal resolution of the matter and allegedly told the police chief that he would "do it again."

"Considering the record as a whole, including the entirety of the testimony and exhibits, it would not be appropriate to downgrade this matter to an offense calling for nothing more than a reprimand, as argued by Sgt. O'Hare's counsel. On the other hand, given the somewhat equivocal interpretation that can be given to Sgt. O'Hare's words when offered an informal resolution by Chief McGuinness, a 10-day suspension without pay seems out of proportion to Sgt. O'Hare's immediate acknowledgment of wrongdoing, his subsequent acknowledgment of wrongdoing during the course of the Internal Affairs investigation and his performance as an officer of the Morris Township Police Department," Schablik wrote, in recommending a five-day suspension..

At the February committee meeting when the vote to discipline O'Hare was made, Iaciofano had said, "It is the type of conduct that cannot be accepted or tolerated in a police department which case after case in New Jersey has recognized to be a paramilitary organization subject to a higher degree of discipline."

An officer in Morris Township for 19 years, O'Hare had admitted that he disseminated a confidential email to members of PBA Local 133 in June 2014 while contract negotiations were underway and the township was offering raises of 2 percent per year for four years. The email included a picture of O'Hare standing beside a water fountain to create the illusion that he was urinating a stream high into the air.

The email text, referring to Quinn, said: "PBA #133s latest correspondence with BA Quinn. Wash your mouth out with this Tim! Gargle with it! If you have to swallow just swallow like 2 percent of it. Jerk off. Be safe! SPO."

Someone anonymously mailed a copy of the email to Quinn in September 2014, and he brought it to the attention of the police chief. Police Capt. Richard Ferrone interviewed O'Hare, who said his email was meant to be funny and for union members only. McGuinness then filed administrative charges of "conduct unbecoming" against O'Hare in November 2014, and a hearing before Schablik occurred at town hall last summer.

Schablik, who had rejected a free-speech defense, emphasized in his written decision that department rules and regulations require officers to always act with high ethical standards so as to avoid bringing disrespect to themselves or to the Police Department. Police cannot engage in improper conduct that weakens public respect or confidence in the department or that adversely impacts confidence among fellow officers, his decision said.

   Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@gannettnj.com