Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Ansonia Police Department

A Milford judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against the department and the city by a police officer who said he was passed over for sergeant.

Peter Lovermi, a 10-year-veteran of the department, filed the lawsuit at Superior Court in Milford last February. It claimed that he was next in line for a promotion to sergeant, based on an exam he took in 2005. 

In 2007, the department left the sergeant’s position unfilled instead of promoting Lovermi, his complaint said.

When the department, in January 2010, advertised a new exam for an open sergeant’s position, Lovermi filed the suit, claiming the action violated the union contract.

Monday, Judge Dale Radcliffe dismissed the suit.

REASONING

Radcliff wrote in his supporting memo that he dismissed the suit because Lovermi didn’t exhaust all other avenues in his complaint about the promotion, and that, therefore, the case wasn’t meant to be heard in civil court.

Article continues after document.

Lovermi Decision 2010

In 2007, when the department didn’t fill the open sergeant’s position, Lovermi filed a grievance through the police union. The grievance was denied, and Lovermi took his case to the Connecticut State Board of Mediation and Arbitration. 

The state labor panel found that the city was within its rights to leave the position open — even though the department had a tradition of immediately filling vacancies.
Lovermi did not appeal that decision, and took no action until the test was advertised in January 2010.

That failure to appeal the state labor decision was a main reason the suit was dismissed, according to the supporting memo. 

The purpose of requiring a plaintiff to exhaust all remedies available under a collective bargaining agreement before resorting to court action is to encourage the use of the grievance procedure, rather than the courts, for resolving disputes,” Radcliff wrote. 

Chief Kevin Hale’s comment was succinct:

We’re going to run the test and move on.” 

Keep local reporting alive. Donate.ValleyIndy.org