PITTSBURGH – The former police chief of Mount Pleasant says he was wrongfully terminated by the mayor and borough council after his refusal to ignore alleged waste and wrongdoing by the town government.
Douglas Sam of Mount Pleasant filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Oct. 16 versus The Borough of Mount Pleasant.
Sam became Mount Pleasant Police Chief on March 2, 2015, after being commended for his strong military background, leadership skills, experience and numerous certifications.
“Under Sam’s guidance as police chief, the following were accomplished: Revamping and modernization of the police department’s paperwork and recordkeeping processes to bring the police department in compliance with federal, state, and local regulations; Ensuring that staffing of police officers was maintained at adequate levels; Organizing and conducting training for the Mount Pleasant Police Department officers, which included firearms training, active shooter training, defensive tactics, taser training and establishment of an emergency alert system,” the suit states, in part.
“Despite the improvements and updates listed above, Sam’s continued employment as police chief was conditioned on the state of his personal relationships with members of the Mount Pleasant government. Sam’s personal relationships with these individuals, however, appeared to be tied to their need for Sam to ignore waste and wrongdoing by Mount Pleasant.”
Sam explained that he was chastised for investigating alleged duplicate depositing of paychecks by Councilwoman Cynthia Stevenson and referring the matter to the Pennsylvania State Police – in addition to other matters of governmental waste – and refusing to drop DUI charges against a John Doe suspect (who allegedly had connection to Mount Pleasant’s government), who was arrested for driving under the influence on Aug. 31, 2018.
After a process of negotiating terms and conditions, including salary, related to an employment contract he was offered for the position of police chief, Sam says he was fired by the mayor and borough council on Feb. 4, 2019.
Sam added this retaliation measure was due to his investigation of borough wrongdoing during his tenure as police chief
For counts of violating the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law through retaliation, the plaintiff is seeking a finding that Mount Pleasant violated the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law, back pay, front pay, lost benefits and other emoluments of employment and such other relief as is necessary to make him whole, compensatory damages for pain, humiliation, emotional distress and damage to reputation; punitive damages, attorney’s fees and costs, pre- and post-judgment interest, any other relief to which he is entitled and/or which this Court deems necessary and proper, plus a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Sammy Sugiura of Edgar Snyder & Associates, in Pittsburgh.
The defendant has not yet secured legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-20-010871
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com