Posted by Shore Publishing on Dec 11 2008
By Marianne Sullivan, Source Senior Staff Writer
Former police officer Daniel Hedges has filed a complaint with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CCHRO) alleging the town and the Police Department discriminated against him during his employment and in actions “taken against him in their many efforts to terminate his employment.”
Through his attorney, Hedges has also notified First Selectman Al Goldberg of his intention to file suit against the town, alleging, among other charges, wrongful termination of employment.
After a hearing before the Board of Police Commissioners, Hedges was terminated on May 29. The former officer faced a total of 21 departmental charges that included multiple issues surrounding on-duty and off-duty conduct; respect, civility, and conduct unbecoming an officer; repeated violation of department rules and regulations; and absence from duty without permission.
Hedges requested a closed-door hearing before the Police Commission and it was granted. The hearing spanned two days of testimony. The commission unanimously upheld all 21 administrative charges and then unanimously voted to terminate him. Although both the charges brought against him and therefore his hearings occurred during the time the department was also holding termination hearings for officers charged with misconduct on the midnight shift, Hedges was never associated with those allegations.
Hedges, 47, was a 17-year veteran of the Madison Police Department. Prior to his appointment as a police officer, he served four years on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps then two years of reserve duty.
Hedges’s attorney, Edmond Clark, said, “We believe our claims are legitimate and Mr. Hedges is seeking redress before the state commission and in the courts. We expect to file the lawsuit sometime after the first of the year.”
In the letter to Goldberg, Hedges lists eight distinct claims, including a breach of his rights under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act because his confidential protected health information was “freely exchanged throughout the workplace.” He also alleges discrimination because he was placed on unpaid leave while the charges against him were being investigated, but other officers under investigation remained on paid administrative leave.
Hedges contends he was “barred access to the protections provided by the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Act…by a hostile and illegal investigation which was layered with every attempt to foster interference with his statutory and civil rights.”
He says he was placed on a medical restriction and his attempts to return to work by providing his superiors with medical clearance “was met by obfuscation and illicit requests for additional information.” He also contends that members of the Police Department have collaborated in a scheme to defame him in the press and in the community.
The actions of the Police Department and the town violated his rights to due process, he contends. He says during his termination hearings “fraudulent charges” were brought “by investigating officers…who conspired to cover up information favorable to his [Hedges’s] exoneration.”
Attorney Clark says in his letter, “Hedges will further show the acts of the agents of the town are a result of conduct that was willful and malicious with injury both intentionally inflicted.”
Discrimination Complaint
In his complaint filed with CCHRO, Hedges alleges harm to his reputation, violation of his rights to privacy for his medical information, denial of his rights under workers’ compensation disability benefits, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional misrepresentation, negligent supervision and violation of his due process rights.
He is seeking reinstatement in his job with full back pay plus interest, compensatory damages, and restoration of seniority and fringe benefits. With 17 years on the job, Hedges was only three years away from eligibility for retirement. With 20 years of service, a police officer can retire at 50 percent of salary and fully paid family health insurance coverage until age 65.
While on patrol duty on April 26, 2007, his cruiser was struck by another car. He was taken by ambulance to Middlesex Hospital and treated for injuries. He filed for workers’ compensation and the town’s insurer contested the claim. The claim remains unresolved.
On May 16, 2007, Chief of Police Paul Jakubson placed Hedges on administrative leave, citing as a reason remarks Hedges allegedly made to another officer. His return to duty, Hedges says in the complaint, was conditioned on his receiving positive medical and psychological fitness reports. On Oct. 25, 2007, he was judged psychologically fit to return to duty. On Dec. 11 he received a report finding him to be physically fit.
“Upon receipt of the two fitness reports, Chief Jakubson denied my return to duty insisting that I be re-evaluated for psychological fitness. On Jan. 8, 2008, [Jakubson] received a second report…indicating for a second time that I was psychologically fit to return to duty,” Hedges complaint says.
Although both the clearances were received, Jakubson refused to return him to active duty.
Between Oct. 25 and Dec. 11, Jakubson assigned the two members of the Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) to investigate his work-related injury claim from the car accident, Hedges says. He filed a departmental complaint regarding the actions of both CID officers.
Then, Hedges says, the CID officers “with the oversight of Jakubson” presented the state’s attorney’s office with an application for an arrest warrant. The state’s attorney refused to issue the warrant, which alleged workers’ compensation fraud. Shortly after that, Hedges was notified by Jakubson that he was being charged with misconduct and Jakubson was recommending termination of employment.
Since all of this has occurred, Jakubson has been placed on administrative leave by the Board of Police Commissioners and, at the request of the commission, the Connecticut State Police is conducting an investigation of the chief.