Saturday, October 02, 1999
Fired Ky. police boss sues to get his job back
Rose says he was trying to be whistle-blower
BY TOM LOFTUS
The Courier-Journal
FRANKFORT — Recently fired Kentucky State Police Commissioner Gary Rose filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday seeking to be reinstated. He argued he was dismissed because he tried to blow the whistle on financial waste and personnel irregularities.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Lexington, alleges that on Aug. 18 he gave his boss, Justice Secretary Robert Stephens, a memo that was “critical of mismanagement and waste of public funds occurring within the Kentucky State Police and includes criticism of improper employment practices.”
The lawsuit charges that Mr. Stephens ordered Mr. Rose to withdraw the memo or be fired, that Mr. Rose refused to withdraw the memo and that Mr. Stephens followed through on the threat and fired Mr. Rose.
Mr. Stephens and Gov. Paul Patton fired Mr. Rose on Aug. 26. Both said it was a joint decision based on their conclusion that the state police would be better led by a civilian. Mr. Rose had served 31 years in the Kentucky State Police.
Mr. Stephens, who is the only defendant named by Mr. Rose in the lawsuit, did not return phone calls about the lawsuit Friday. Justice Cabinet spokesman Terry Sebastian said Mr. Stephens had no comment because the cabinet's policy is not to discuss pending litigation.
Melissa Forsythe, spokeswoman for the governor's office, said Mr. Patton's staff was unaware the suit had been filed and could not comment.
In the suit, Mr. Rose charges that Mr. Stephens violated Mr. Rose's constitutional right to freedom of speech. It also alleges Mr. Stephens violated the state's “whistle-blower” law intended to protect from retaliation state employees who try to shed light on prob lems within the government.
Mr. Rose asks for $500,000 in compensatory damages for “lost wages, pain and suffering, humiliation and mental anguish,” $500,000 in punitive damages and reinstatement as commissioner.
The lawsuit does not expand on Mr. Rose's allegations of mismanagement, waste of public funds and improper employment practices raised in the Aug. 18 memo.
The Justice Cabinet declined to respond Friday to a Courier-Journal request for a copy of any such memo. Mr. Sebastian said the cabinet needed time to study the request and determine whether any records it sought can be released under the state's Open Records Act. Under that law, a state agency has three working days to respond to a request.
And Mr. Rose referred questions about the matter to his attorney, Bernard Pafunda of Lexington, who declined to release a copy of the memo or comment about its specific contents.
On the day he was fired, Mr. Rose sent a message to all state police posts in which he attributed his firing to a disagreement over Mr. Patton's 1997 appointment of Detective Pat Simpson, the head of the governor's personal security detail, to a job of deputy commissioner of state police. At the time of the appointment Det. Simpson was to retain his duties as head of the security detail and take on more responsibilities assigned by Mr. Rose.
Mr. Stephens has been serving as acting commissioner since Mr. Rose's firing. Early last week it appeared that former commissioner and Justice Secretary Michael Troop would be named to the job.
Mr. Troop resigned Sept. 20 as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky and said he would be taking a new job later in the week. But the next day, Mr. Stephens announced that Mr. Troop had withdrawn as a candidate for the state police job. It was later learned that Mr. Troop is the subject of a U.S. Justice Department investigation into a complaint of sexual harassment filed by an assistant U.S. attorney.
Mr. Troop has said he withdrew his name from consideration for the state police job for personal reasonsand declined to elaborate.
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