Friday, June 04, 1999
Chief sues city over 2nd dismissal
Piccirillo alleges intentional harm
BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — He was fired, rehired, then fired again. Now he's suing.
Former Cold Spring Police Chief Mike Piccirillo filed a lawsuit against the city Thursday, saying he was not a “serve-at-will” employee and that he was unjustly dismissed.
The chief, who led the department for three years, wants an unspecified amount of money for compensation, plus additional damages for what the suit says is intentional misconduct by the city.
Mr. Piccirillo was fired March 22 for the second time. He had been asked to resign last fall, would not, and then was fired in October. Little was said publicly about why he had been rehired.
The department was embroiled in turmoil at the time, with officers claiming the chief was foul-mouthed and verbally abusive.
In October, the department lost its first and only female officer after a sex discrimination dispute, and all but two officers were talking with Covington lawyer Phil Taliaferro. Some were upset about being asked to attend what they said was anger-management counseling for the chief.
The lawsuit gives some hint about the circumstances under which he was rehired last November. A document attached to the lawsuit, signed by the former chief and then-Mayor Clarence Martin, says they agreed that Mr. Piccirillo would return to work with all back pay and benefits as if he had not been fired. As part of that, the city agreed to pay up to $1,000 in attorneys' fees for Mr. Piccirillo and for his training in effective management techniques.
The settlement, it said, did not mean either admitted any wrongdoing. It did, however, the suit claims, give Mr. Piccirillo the expectation that he would continue to be employed.
The lawsuit said Mr. Piccirillo is making every effort to find a job, but that he continues to be unsuccessful in doing so.
The city is in the process of hiring its new chief, Jim Hales, a former detective with the Campbell County Police Department.
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