Opinion ID: 795898
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Greenland Incident

Text: 3 Sometime in 2002, plaintiff Jeremy Skehan and fellow police officers in the Mamaroneck Police Department responded to a call at an A & P Supermarket in Mamaroneck that resulted in a confrontation with Ronald Greenland, a black male. According to Skehan, Greenland was known as a felon with a history of violence who had threatened several members of the department. On February 5, 2003, Skehan, at a meeting with the department's executive officer, Alexander Ricozzi, and lieutenants Hank Paul and Mary Matero, was told to ignore any future violations by Greenland because Skehan is white and Greenland black. The officers said that if Skehan failed to obey the order he would be disciplined. 4 Days later, at a meeting attended by Chief Flynn, Skehan, Ricozzi, and Matero, Flynn rescinded the previous order and asked if Skehan wanted to express any concerns about the incident. Skehan replied that he was concerned that the department was making its enforcement decisions concerning Greenland on the basis of race. Flynn immediately said Skehan was mistaken; he added, your judgment needs to be looked at a little bit because I think you have a problem with your judgment. Flynn then told Skehan that Flynn was proposing that Skehan forfeit ten days' pay because of Skehan's failure to disclose the reason for taking a previous period of sick leave. When Skehan refused to consent to the forfeiture, the department issued a series of memoranda accusing Skehan of misconduct and suspending certain of Skehan's privileges, including switching shifts with other officers without approval. On March 3, Chief Flynn proposed eight disciplinary charges against Skehan, and Skehan was formally charged on April 7. Charges 1-7 alleged that Skehan refused to provide the department with information concerning his sick leave. Charge 8 alleged that Skehan had failed to report promptly to the February 5 meeting.