Dickson City incompetence...

[CarolinaGuy]

Looks like a certain Mayberry-wannabe has been having a tough time with lawsuits as of late...

Not only do they harass citizens...they harass each other.

Including one "part-time officer Karen Gallagher".

link

Dickson City will pay a former borough policeman $50,000 to settle a case in which the ex-officer claimed the police chief and other officers harassed him after he filed a wrongful termination suit in 2005.

Harold A. Nudelman, a Dickson City police officer for 31 years, said he signed paperwork Thursday agreeing to the settlement after consulting with his attorney, Scott Schermerhorn.

“I wanted my day in court,” Mr. Nudelman said, but added he didn’t want to run the risk of taking his suit to trial and coming away with nothing. “I could have gone to court and gotten less from a jury.”

Dickson City council President Barbara Mecca said she had no information about the settlement. Calls to the borough’s chief clerk, Ken Novak, were not returned Thursday.

Mr. Nudelman sued the Police Department, Chief William A. Stadnitski and two officers, Philip F. Davitt and Thomas Logan. The suit claimed the department “engaged in a pattern of selectively targeting” employees at Mr. Nudelman’s new job, Millennium Packaging Services Inc.

To back up that claim, Mr. Nudelman’s lawsuit details what he says was an arrest in November 2004, after a traffic stop involving a Millennium tractor-trailer.

Lawyers for the police say Mr. Nudelman was never arrested but was given a citation for disorderly conduct. The citation was later dismissed by a magisterial district judge, according to the suit.

Mr. Nudelman believed that the officers were harassing him because of an earlier federal suit he had filed, claiming wrongful termination after he was fired in 2004.

That case was settled in 2005, according to court paperwork.

This is the sixth settlement Dickson City has reached in the past 13 months.

In November 2006, the borough settled a wrongful termination suit brought by Mr. Novack for $125,000 — his job was subsequently restored — and also a police civil rights complaint filed by Councilman Anthony Gallis for $80,000.

In January, a police civil rights suit filed by former Councilman William Bott was settled for $25,000, and former zoning officer Ken Sosnowski settled a wrongful termination suit for $21,000 the following month.

Last month, former part-time officer Karen Gallagher settled a sexual harassment suit she brought against the borough for $139,000.

As a result of the rash of lawsuits, the borough’s current liability insurance policy carries a $25,000 deductible, Mr. Novak said last month.

[edstephan]

Looks like the taxpayers of Dickson City may be digging a bit deeper. LMAO
Ed

[Kendrickson]

The name "Nudelman" (Noodleman) just begs for harassment!

[38SnubFan]

Originally Posted by edstephan

Looks like the taxpayers of Dickson City may be digging a bit deeper. LMAO
Ed

On two counts:

1) Angry Gorillas are expensive to feed!
2) Angry Pitbulls are even more expensive for damage/repairs after she's bitten.

-38SnubFan

[Evolution]

I really hope they still follow through with this legally speaking.

[rwilson452]

I certainly hope multiple suits are filed as many as consul can dream up. File multiple criminal complaints. Just bury them in paper and be prepared to file with the courts on the DA to show cause why he doesn't pursue the complaints. you can be sure he will make an attempt to cover up their misdeeds. I think its called a writ of mandamus or something close to that. Perhaps the DA knowing you will go that far might cause him to act to save his own butt.

[BullfrogKen]

What on earth is going on in Dickson City town council, Dickson City PD, and why is the Chief allowed to remain in office?

[shooter357]

Originally Posted by BullfrogKen

What on earth is going on in Dickson City town council, Dickson City PD, and why is the Chief allowed to remain in office?

I'm surprised there isn't some kind of federal investigation for corruption for this "small town" community.

[ThomasJ]

I don't think ignorance or stupidity qualifies as corrupt.

[BullfrogKen]

Thomas, no simple stupidity and ignorance certainly doesn't give rise to suspicions of overt corruption.


But selectively targeting a former policeman and his coworkers at his new place of business, the sexual harassment of a fellow female policewoman, and the handful of wrongful terminations of township employees and councilmen give rise to wonder . . . what the hell in going in in Dickson City if not a case of small town corruption?

On its face there appears to be some sort of unrestrained recklessness and unprofessionalism. Six settlements in 13 months? Those are numbers more in line with a big city like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, or Harrisburg. If my small little Township had to settle six different lawsuits in the span of a year, I would make it my business to find out:

• what was going on,
• who was responsible for letting it happen - and continue to happen,
• what the plan of action to rectify that nonsense was,
• and if I wasn't 100% satisfied conditions had changed so there would not be a 7th, demand changes in leadership.

If this is what is going on internally, and the article only talks about internal the issues of police misconduct and improper behavior on the council, I have to ponder what kind of public service are they providing to the community they serve?

That kind of behavior by public officials really is disturbing. This is all we know about because it made the news as a result of actual litigation. We also know that very few issues go as far as litigation. By the time someone goes as far to litigate, there are nearly always many more actions that were handled internally, or just forgotten about because the transgressed simply didn't want to go through the arduous process and ordeal that it is to take something to court.


With what they did to our guys, it appears they will be facing another round of lawsuits and charges of police misconduct. And the only reason we know about this one is because it happened to our guys. How many more folks in Dickson City have been harassed and kept quiet about it afterwards? How many more folks have been passing through that community and experienced unprofessional behavior by heavy-handed policeman - and policewomen - who bully them?