By Gus Burns | fburns@mlive.com
Another former Saginaw police officer has filed a lawsuit, on the heels of a March 3 judgment ordering the city to pay former Officer Danny T. McDole $1 million for discrimination.
Patrick C. Shaltry is suing on claims that Sgt. Anjanette “A.J.” Tuer, head of internal affairs, sexually harassed him and “commenced a campaign of retaliation” leading to his dismissal.
The Saginaw News obtained a copy of the $75,000-plus civil suit that Saginaw attorney Victor J. Mastromarco Jr. filed Feb. 19 in U.S. District Court in Bay City on Shaltry’s behalf.
It names Tuer; Ralph Carter, the city’s labor relations administrator; Thomas H. Fancher, the city’s attorney who was acting city manager; and Police Chief Gerald H. Cliff.
Fancher declined comment other than to note that Shaltry was “discharged for misconduct and that he has a grievance pending, which is on its way to arbitration.”
The suit claims Shaltry “rebuffed” Tuer’s sexual advances and she subjected him to “pervasive harassment and retaliation.”
Shaltry, who joined the department in November 1996, was “wrongly and unlawfully terminated on March 5, 2008,” after the U.S. Air Force ordered him to report to Selfridge Air Force Base near Detroit as part of his reservist duties and he failed to notify the department in accordance with policy, the suit says.
The suit claims Shaltry wasn’t required to give notice because he already was on leave. Prior to the reserve order, Tuer initiated a separate “meritless and bogus” internal affairs investigation that found Shaltry “guilty of certain general orders,” the lawsuit alleges. It was unclear what those orders were.
Shaltry is seeking back pay, lost future pay, bonuses, sick pay, vacation pay, fringe benefits, non-economic damages, litigation costs and interest.
A Bay City jury awarded ex-officer McDole $1 million on claims of racial and disability discrimination by the Police Department in 2005. Tuer placed McDole on administrative leave in November 2005 while internal affairs investigated McDole’s Oct. 14, 2005, arrest of two white males he said assaulted and targeted him with racial slurs.
The suit claimed Tuer told McDole he was an angry black man in December 2005, sparking his claim of racial discrimination.
McDole, 38, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder before the department fired him in February 2006. His suit claimed that was unlawful and violated his rights under the Michigan Persons With Disabilities Civil Rights Act.
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