Whistle-Blower Fails In Lawsuit Against City, Police Department, Chief
By Jessie Seyfer, The San Jose Mercury News
A San Mateo County judge has decided that the East Palo Alto Police Department did not fire an officer simply because he had informed his superiors of alleged sexual misconduct by other officers.
Kenneth Cassettari, 44, was hired as a probationary officer in September 2000. Six months later, he heard from a young East Palo Alto woman that she and other women, some of them underage, had been having sex with police officers at hotels and in squad cars. In May 2001, Cassettari was let go.
He sued the police department, city of East Palo Alto and several officers, including Chief Wes Bowling, for wrongful termination.
On Thursday, following an approximately three-week trial, Superior Court Judge Rosemary Pfeiffer ruled that the department did not need a reason to let Cassettari go, since he was a probationary officer. Pfeiffer found that Bowling and his command staff had thoroughly investigated the woman’s complaints, and found they couldn’t be corroborated.
The judge pointed out that Cassettari was an exemplary officer during his field training, even enjoying a commendation from Bowling during a city council meeting. About six months after his training, Cassettari learned of the sexual misconduct allegations and told his supervisors, Pfeiffer noted in her written decision.
Complaints made:
Over the next two months, several fellow officers complained to supervisors about Cassettari’s conduct, alleging, among other things, that he used inappropriate language in front of members of the public several times.
In April 2001, Cassettari was placed on administrative leave while the other officers’ complaints, as well as the woman’s, could be investigated.
After he was terminated, Cassettari said he believed the officers had complained about him because they considered him a whistle-blower, bringing bad publicity and embarrassment upon the department.
Several lawsuits:
Pfeiffer found that it was true that some complaints about Cassettari came relatively soon after he brought the sex allegations to his supervisors’ attention. But she felt that the department had good reason to terminate Cassettari, and that he could not prove that his termination was related to his whistle-blowing.
Since the late 1990s, the East Palo Alto Police Department has been sued several times by former officers. In 1999, former female officer Mitzie Lootens sued two male officers for sexual harassment. The suit was settled in 2000, with the city agreeing to pay her $99,000. Last year, the city agreed to pay a $525,000 settlement to former officer Robert Cole, who had sued for wrongful termination.
City Attorney Michael Lawson said “thumbs up” in response to Pfeiffer’s decision. “The police department is moving in a positive direction,” he said in a statement. “Time to move on.”
Neither Cassettari nor his attorney, Steve Phillips, could be reached for comment Monday.