Trooper sues Rhode Island State Police over firing due to Christmas Day 'incapacitation'

PROVIDENCE — A Rhode Island state trooper who authorities accuse of missing a Christmas Day supervisory shift due to heavy intoxication is asking a Superior Court judge to restore him to the job he has held for more than two decades.

A state trooper identified only as John  Doe, with his name and rank undisclosed, is suing the Rhode Island State Police and its former superintendent, Col. James Manni, accusing them of wrongly firing him without affording him the protections and hearing process contained in the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights. 

The state police are asking Superior Court Presiding Justice Alice B. Gibney — who hears the state’s Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights matters — to dismiss Doe’s claims, but the agency is requesting the opportunity to hold a Bill of Rights hearing for Doe, if the court finds that he was fired in error.

More:A pivot on police discipline in Rhode Island? How officers' bill of rights might change

“We wish there were things that could be said, but LEOBOR muzzles us,” said Vincent F. Ragosta Jr., who is representing the state police with D. Peter DeSimone and Adam J. Sholes. Police departments are restricted from publicly speaking about a LEOBOR case, unless the officer publicly addresses it first.

Carly Iafrate, Doe’s lawyer, did not respond to a phone call.

Disciplined for dating a subordinate

According to Doe, the trouble began in October when a state police major asked him about his dating relationship with a subordinate. State police policy requires officers to notify their supervisor if they are dating a colleague to avoid conflicts.

The state police said the major learned that Doe was not only dating, but he was living with an unnamed subordinate whom he had the occasion to supervise in his position as the night executive officer. In response, the state said it adjusted Doe’s shifts so they wouldn’t overlap with the subordinate.

More than a month later, the captain in charge of internal affairs directed him to submit a memorandum documenting the relationship. 

More:'Evergreen contracts' for all RI police and firefighter unions? Contested law may expand

Shortly after, on Dec. 8, Doe said the captain “slid” a six-page disciplinary consent agreement across the desk without informing him of his rights under the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights, Doe said.

The agreement imposed a two-day suspension without pay to be served before Jan. 31, 2022, and specified that “upon return to duty” after completing the suspension he would be placed on probationary status for three months, Doe alleged. The agreement dictated that Doe shall not be afforded Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights protections during his probation and that failure to follow departmental rules during that period could result in more stringent discipline, including termination.

Doe said he did not contact a lawyer and was not told he had that option before signing the agreement — a claim the state police deny. The agreement didn’t explain that Doe would become an at-will employee during the probation with no right to due process, Doe said.

The state police counter that Doe “must have been well aware of what a probationary period was” as a 24-year veteran of the force and that he was familiar with people waiving their rights and the implications of doing so.

Historic transition:Darnell Weaver sworn in as 15th superintendent of RI State Police

Service weapon removed after 'mental health crisis' 

Doe was scheduled to work Dec. 25 but said he experienced a “mental health crisis” that left him incapacitated and unable to report to work. As a result, the division supervisor came to his home and removed his service weapon.

According to the state police, Doe was unable to report to duty in his night executive role due to heavy intoxication. They said they received a call from his wife after being unable to locate him and removed his service weapon — which was not loaded — based on his severe incapacitation.

Doe said that he sought mental health treatment from various providers in the aftermath and went out on “disability” prior to serving his suspension days. The internal affairs captain told him he would discharge the two days of suspension on Dec. 25 and 26, though Doe said he did not consent to that and that he had already been marked sick those days.

A major told him he was being placed on administrative leave, though Doe said he requested medical leave.

On Jan. 19, Manni signed the disciplinary agreement the department reached with Doe the previous month, though Manni said he previously read and approved it.

More:Grand jury clears Providence police officer shown punching teen after July car chase

The next day, the internal affairs captain arranged to meet Doe “on the side of the road” and gave him a termination letter, accompanied by the disciplinary agreement signed by Manni. The state police said that Doe refused to meet anywhere other than a state Department of Transportation site, despite offers.

Trooper seeks to void termination due to rights violations

According to Doe, the termination letter failed to apprise him of his hearing rights under the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights and wrongly stated that his probationary period had begun, while the agreement itself read that his probation wouldn’t start until he returned to duty after serving his suspension.

Doe is asking Presiding Justice Gibney to find that the state police didn’t comply with the terms of the bill of rights and that therefore the disciplinary agreement and his termination are void. He asks to be immediately reinstated to his position with full pay and benefits retroactive to Jan. 20. He asks the court to order that he be provided notice of his rights to a hearing under the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights.

The bill of rights directs that an officer be informed of his or her right to a hearing if the agency is recommending punishment, such as demotion, transfer, dismissal, loss of pay, reassignment or other punitive action. The law enforcement officer may be suspended, but the law dictates that the officer shall receive all ordinary pay and benefits as he or she would have if he or she were not charged with an offense.

The three-person hearing committee is composed of an active or retired officer selected by the officer and another selected by the agency. The third is selected by the committee, or, if they can’t agree, Gibney will step in to choose that member, who will serve as chairperson.

State lawmakers this session are considering changes to the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, which opponents fault as unfairly protecting law enforcement officers who engage in wrongdoing and misconduct.

Manni retired as Rhode Island State Police colonel last month and was replaced by longtime trooper Darnell S. Weaver.