Retired 50th Precinct sergeant loses court case against NYPD
A former 50th Precinct sergeant, who alleges that his superiors retaliated against him after he blew the whistle on a hazardous environmental issue at the Kingsbridge stationhouse, has lost what may be his final appeal for restitution of pay and gun privileges.
The United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, dismissed Angelo Ruotolo's lawsuit against, among others, the New York Police Department, the City of New York and his former commanding officer, Raymond Rooney, on Feb. 6. Mr. Ruotolo, who is now retired, charges that he was harassed by his superiors and reassigned repeatedly after he penned an October 1999 report which attributed a host of illnesses suffered by former and current Five-O officers to a leaking gas tank under the stationhouse.
Safety coordinator
Mr. Ruotolo, who was the precinct's safety coordinator at the time, was required to write the report.
The report "identified a seemingly large number of cancers, miscarriages, birth defects and other health problems afflicting individuals working at the precinct," Chief Judge Denise Jacobs wrote in her decision.
According to court documents, the leakage from fuel storage tanks into the soil and air raised contamination levels above Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Environmental Protection Agency standards. The situation was deemed a concern, and was ameliorated at the city's expense.
Mr. Ruotolo might have expected to be lauded as a heroic whistleblower, but he said he never was. Instead, he claims, after the memo came out, his commanding officers frequently reassigned him to undesirable shifts and to duties that were below his rank and tenure. They denied him leave time, transferred him to an undesirable precinct and disciplined him for trivial or fabricated reasons, he claims.
Denied
The Court of Appeals denied that Mr. Ruotolo, who was a 19- year veteran at the time, suffered from retaliation because of his report. What's more, the court ruled, since he was required to write the report as part of his duties as safety coordinator, he was not writing as a citizen and therefore not protected under free speech laws.
Mr. Ruotolo's appeals attorney Andrew M. Wong said two weeks before his client's case, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that said free speech is not guaranteed in the work setting when someone is ordered to do a particular task, as this Five-O sergeant was.
That decision weighed heavily in Mr. Ruotolo's case.
"It was bad luck," said Mr. Wong. "Two weeks from trial and that case came down."
Mr. Wong said the case, Garcetti v. Ceballos, sets a dangerous precedent.
"It chills any worker," he said. "You tell your boss something critical and you are subject to anything they want to throw at you. It's going to lessen your willingness to come forward."
No more appeals
Mr. Ruotolo retired from the NYPD in 2004 and has been in and out of court ever since, pleading his case. Mr. Wong said at this point the sergeant has exhausted his appeals.
Now, Mr. Wong said, his client simply wants the right to carry a weapon, which would allow him to get a higher paying job in the security field. Since he was on modified duty at the time of his retirement he lost his right to carry a gun in perpetuity.
"He can stand at a retail store and get paid $8 an hour, but he can't get a job carrying a weapon at $25 an hour," Mr. Wong said.
