ANSONIA – The city agreed to a settlement with a police officer who said he was retaliated against after filing two complaints about fellow officers.
The city settled for $300,000, according to Joseph Androski, a member of the city’s corporation counsel. The Ansonia Board of Aldermen approved the settlement at a meeting April 14.
Detective Jonathan Troesser filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Ansonia in 2024.
He said in the lawsuit that he had been subjected to two unwarranted internal affairs investigations – one after he complained about racially offensive comments made by another officer, and a second after he alleged an officer was improperly collecting overtime pay.
The internal affairs investigations were retaliations for speaking up, the lawsuit alleged.
The Valley Indy emailed lawyers for Troesser on April 10 but did not hear back.
First Complaint
In December 2021 the detective submitted an anonymous complaint to Ansonia Police Commission member John Tar.
The detective’s anonymous complaint alleged another officer had “made an offensive comment to a female Hispanic police officer by asking if, among the other languages that she spoke, whether she also speaks ‘ebonics’ or words to that effect,” Troesser’s lawsuit says.
The officer, who was in training, left the police department three months later.
Internal Affairs Investigation Launched
The Ansonia Police Department launched an investigation into Detective Troesser’s complaint in December 2021. The officer who allegedly made the “ebonics” comment denied doing so.
The officer accused of making the comment was eventually cleared – but not before internal affairs shifted its focus to Detective Troesser and his anonymous complaint.
The detective had submitted his complaint as a Word file. The metadata in the file identified him as the author.
The internal affairs report concluded that Detective Troesser had engaged in “criticism and malicious gossip” by making unproven allegations against a sergeant and Chief Wayne Williams.
The detective had a written warning submitted to his disciplinary file.
While the first complaint was pending, Troesser filed another complaint, alleging that an officer had been improperly collecting overtime pay.
The department then opened a second internal affairs investigation into Troesser, the federal lawsuit says. That investigation remained open at the time Troesser filed his 2024 lawsuit in federal court.
Promotion Denied
Around the time the warning relating to the first complaint was issued, Troesser took a promotional exam for an open Detective Sgt. position. Troesser allegedly scored the highest out of three officers who took the exam.
However, the city chose to promote another officer over Troesser, the lawsuit says. When that officer declined the promotion, the city then chose the third exam-taker instead of Troesser.
The other officers were not named.
“(Former) Mayor (David) Cassetti’s decision to promote Sergeant B and, when he turned down the Position, Sergeant S over Plaintiff was due, in part or in whole, to the fact that Plaintiff had the prior discipline on his record and was the subject of the active Internal Affairs investigation,” the lawsuit says.
Troesser filed discrimination claims with state and federal commissions before bringing the lawsuit.
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