By Anthony G. Attrino
nj.com
ALLENDALE, N.J. — Four police sergeants sued the Allendale Police Department on Monday, claiming elected officials violated their civil rights when they pushed through and promoted a patrolman to the position of chief ahead of them.
Sergeants Todd Griffith, William Kroepke, John Mattiace and Paul Stettner – all longtime employees of the police department – say they were each viable candidates to replace former Police Chief George Scherb, who retired on Dec. 31, 2021.
However, the job of Allendale’s top cop went to Officer Matt Dillon, “a known ally and political supporter of the mayor and many borough council members,” states the lawsuit, filed in Superior Court of Bergen County.
Dillon, 39, was sworn in as Allendale’s police chief on Jan. 3. Dillon, Mayor Ari Bernstein and other borough officials did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Patrick Toscano, the attorney who filed suit on behalf of the officers, said the legal action should come as no surprise to borough officials.
“When a municipal governing body illegally distorts a police department promotional process in order to wrongfully reward a politically favored son, that governing body has to expect to be called upon, by other qualified officers, to explain its conduct,” Toscano said.
The suit states social media posts document that Dillon, an Allendale resident, was close with the politicians because he attended political events with Bernstein and “many borough council members.”
The lawsuit claims the mayor and some council members blatantly ignored the achievements and successes of the four sergeants, all of whom had long careers with the Allendale Police Department.
The suit alleges the politicians adopted a “skewed, crooked, twisted, convoluted and illegal promotional process within the APD” to push Dillon through and promote him to police chief.
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Meanwhile, during the summer of 2021, the four police veterans vying for the job “collectively spent thousands of dollars and devoted numerous vacation days and countless off-days in studying for the borough’s chief’s exam.”
In September 2021, borough council members began reviewing the personnel files of all the candidates. The four sergeants were allowed to look at their files in the chief’s office upon request. Dillon, however, was allowed to take his personnel file out of the office, the suit states.
“Dillon rearranged his personnel file to his liking before it was evaluated,” the suit alleges.
In addition, the four sergeants claim they were “incessantly and relentlessly interrupted and unfairly confronted about various specific and wholly irrelevant aspects of their employment,” the suit states.
The suit alleges the mayor and some of the council members were “going through the motions” when interviewing them for the chief’s position.
“The plaintiffs now (realize) that the entire interview process was a sham, bogus, and foregone/predetermined conclusion (to hire Dillon),” the suit alleges.
“The borough had a preferred candidate (Dillon) and would do anything, including by illegal and illegitimate means and actions, to promote him to the APD position,” the suit alleges.
Borough officials are accused of violating the sergeants’ constitutional rights under New Jersey law by discriminating against them “because of the political patronage of Dillon toward” some elected leaders.
The suit asks the court to void Dillon’s promotion to chief and to vacate Allendale Police Department’s current promotional process.
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