Russo v. City of Hartford
| Decision Date | 02 August 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. Civ.A. 397CV2380JCH.,No. Civ.A. 300CV2382JCH.,No. Civ.A. 300CV1794JCH.,Civ.A. 397CV2380JCH.,Civ.A. 300CV2382JCH.,Civ.A. 300CV1794JCH. |
| Citation | 158 F.Supp.2d 214 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
| Parties | Nicholas RUSSO, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF HARTFORD, et al., Defendants. |
James S. Brewer, West Hartford, CT, John T. Forrest, LLC, Hartford, CT, for Plaintiff.
Helen Apostolidis, Linda L. Yoder, Charles L. Howard, Gregg Peter Goumas, Kara L. Van Ausdall, Shipman & Goodwin, Joseph W. McQuade, Kainen, Escalera & McHale, PC, Stephen Richard Sarnoski, Attorney General's Office, Lynn D. Wittenbrink, Attorney General's Office, Peregrine Alban Zinn-Rowthorn, Attorney General's Office, Frank J. Szilagyi, Silvester, Daly & Delaney, Hartford, CT, for Defendants.
RULING ON MOTIONS TO DISMISS [DKT. NOS. 66, 68, 70, 74, 77, 79, 81, 83]
This litigation involves federal civil rights actions brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by the plaintiff, Hartford Police Detective Nicholas Russo ("Russo"), against state criminal prosecutors, Hartford police officers and supervisors, the Hartford Police Union and union officers, and the City of Hartford. Russo alleges several federal constitutional and state law violations arising out of his arrest on December 16, 1997 and suspension from prior police duties. Russo filed three related lawsuits, Russo v. City of Hartford, et al. (3:97cv2380 (JCH)), Russo v. Bailey, et al. (3:00cv1794 (JCH)), and Russo v. Marquis, et al. (3:00cv2382 (JCH)), which have been consolidated for purposes of discovery.1 Pending before the court are motions to dismiss filed by the defendants in each of the consolidated actions.
Russo has been employed as a police officer for the City of Hartford Police Department since 1981. For more than six years, Russo served as a Detective with CAPers, the Crimes Against Persons division of the Hartford Police Department. Russo was also assigned to the Federal Violent Crimes Unit in Hartford beginning in June of 1995. He served as a detective in both capacities until he was arrested on December 16, 1997.
On or about January 10, 1997, David Kenary, a lieutenant assigned to the CAPers division, ordered Russo to bring a doctor's note to explain his absence from work. Russo brought a note from his physician stating that he had been absent from work for three days because he was being treated for influenza. At about the same time, Russo was ordered to submit to a drug test, the results of which were negative.
In the spring of 1997, while Russo was assigned to the Federal Gang Task Force, Sergeant Daryl Roberts, Lieutenant David Kenary, and Sergeant Charles Lilley, ordered Russo to report to them each morning with an itinerary of his schedule for the day. On several occasions, they also ordered him to report back at the end of the day with a signed memo from the U.S. Attorney's Office detailing what Russo had done that day.
During the same time period, anonymous allegations were made that Russo was suicidal. As a result, Chief of the Hartford Police Department, Joseph Croughwell, ordered Russo to bring in a note from a therapist to verify he was fit to work. On or about March 9, 1997, Russo was required by the City of Hartford and his supervisors to take a drug test.
On June 15, 1997, a murder took place in the City of Hartford. Both the City of Hartford Police Department and the Federal Violent Crimes Unit of Hartford investigated the murder. Russo was involved in the investigation as a member of the Federal Gang Task force and helped cause the arrest of a suspect. Russo's involvement in the arrest and his affiliation with the federal authorities caused tension within the CAPers division of the Hartford Police Department.
On or about September 9, 1997, Lieutenant Kenary contacted the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") to initiate a criminal investigation involving Russo's physician.
On or about October 13, 1997, Russo confidentially told Stephen Kumnick, an Inspector in the State's Attorney's Office, that the federal authorities were planning a corruption probe of the Hartford Police Department and that Russo was assisting in the investigation. On or about October 30, 1997, Kumnick notified James Rovella, a detective assigned to the CAPers division of the Hartford Police Department, about the federal corruption probe. Rovella notified two possible targets of the probe, Sergeant Christopher Lyons and Detective Robert Lawlor. Chief State's Attorney John Bailey notified Chief Croughwell of the probe.
On October 30, 1997, Chief Croughwell, in the presence of Lawlor and Lyons, notified Russo that he had heard a rumor that City of Hartford police detectives were under investigation by federal authorities for unlawful acts during the June 15, 1997 murder investigation. Lawlor and Lyons threatened Russo. On or about October 31, 1997, Bailey sent a memo to Chief Croughwell detailing Russo's conversation with Kumnick regarding Russo's cooperation with federal authorities.
On or about October 31, 1997, a criminal investigation of Russo's drug use officially began. In the course of the investigation, a DEA Diversionary Investigator, Kenary, and, under orders from Hartford Police Captain Jeffrey Flaherty, Hartford Police Detective Stephen Hajdasz traveled to various pharmacies in the Hartford area and obtained Russo's pharmaceutical records.
On November 4, 1997, Captain Flaherty and two other police sergeants confronted Russo at the United States Attorney's office in New Haven, Connecticut. Captain Flaherty stated that Chief Croughwell ordered that Russo be taken to Hartford in order to immediately submit to a drug test in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Captain Flaherty took Russo's firearm and escorted Russo into the back seat of an unmarked police vehicle. Captain Flaherty then drove Russo back to Hartford. While en route to Hartford, Flaherty told Russo that Chief Croughwell had ordered that Russo was not to receive his firearm and was to be placed on sick leave until Chief Croughwell received the results of the drug test.
Russo was taken to Medtox Laboratories in Bloomfield, Connecticut and was physically led to the facility where he was required to submit to a drug test. While at Medtox, Russo was questioned by Flaherty. He was never advised of his Miranda rights.
After the drug test, Russo was taken to the Hartford Police Department and was released. Captain Flaherty told Russo that Chief Croughwell had changed his mind and wanted Russo to either report to work in a limited capacity (no gun or filed duty) or voluntarily use his sick leave. In addition, Captain Flaherty stated that Chief Croughwell had ordered Russo not to drive a car home and not to drive a car to work the next day. On Chief Croughwell's orders, a police sergeant drove Russo home.
Russo alleges that Chief Croughwell, Captain Flaherty, and others disseminated information about Russo's drug test to the general population of the police department before the results of the test were returned. Further, on or about November 5, 1997, members of the Hartford Police Department revealed information about the drug test to departmental personnel and others, including a newspaper reporter. The reporter contacted Russo about the drug test and other allegations of misconduct and indicated she intended to print a story about Russo.
On or about December 2, 1997, Chief Croughwell's sick leave order was rescinded and Russo was ordered back to work. Russo was transferred to the fraud division without his weapon and was restricted to the building. Russo's desk was physically removed from CAPers, and his personal belongings were seized and never returned to him.
On December 15, 1997, Flaherty and DEA Diversionary Investigator Brown met with State Attorney's representatives Lawrence Skinner, Joan Alexander, James E. Thomas, Herbert Carlson, Jr., and Joseph E. Hammick. An arrest warrant for Russo was drafted and, on December 16, 1997, Russo was arrested by the State's Attorney's Office and charged with four counts each of Forgery in the Second Degree and Illegally Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Fraud. Chief Croughwell suspended Russo from duty without pay pending the outcome of the criminal matter.
On June 28, 1998, allegedly due to the animosity toward the Russo in Hartford, Russo's criminal case was transferred from the Hartford State's Attorney's Office to the New London State's Attorney's Office. Thomas failed to transfer his corresponding files and continued to receive information regarding the criminal investigation of Russo from the DEA and the Hartford Police Department.
On September 15, 2000, all criminal charges against Russo were dropped.3 Acting Chief of Police for the City of Hartford, Robert Rudewicz, continued Russo's suspension from the Hartford Police Department without pay from September 15, 1997 until November 26, 2000. Rudewicz informed Russo that he was scheduled to have his police badge returned to him on December 11, 2000. On December 4, 2000, Bruce Marquis was appointed as Chief of Police for the Hartford Police Department. On December 11, 2000, Russo was notified that Marquis had decided not to return Russo's badge and identification.
The Hartford Police Union did not challenge Russo's suspension or take action to effectuate Russo's reinstatement at any time. Russo alleges that the union's failure to act was in furtherance of an implicit agreement between the Hartford Police Department defendants and the union defendants. From December 16, 1997 to December 31, 1998, Lawrence Reynolds was the president of the Hartford Police Union. From January 1, 1999 to the present, Michael Wood has been the president of the union. During all times relevant to this action, Thomas Hardwick was the vice-president of the Hartford Police Union.
The several defendants in this case have...
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