2/9/09 Greenwich Post Breaking News; SPLIT DECISION: Three Judges Say Michael Pacewicz Was Not Illegaly Appointed Afterall

Covering the news of Greenwich, Connecticut Breaking News In a 3-2 decision, the state Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the town and reversed a Superior Court decision claiming Lt. Gary Honulik was wrongly passed over for promotion. The decision was released this morning and denied Lt. Honulik’s claims that former Chief of Police James Walters unfairly passed him over when he promoted former Capt. Michael Pacewicz in 2004 despite Lt. Honulik scoring higher on the captian’s examination. Lt. Honulik claimed in his suit that because of personal issues between them, Mr. Walters had promoted Mr. Pacewicz over him by not relying entirely on the exam results and instead using an interview evaluation as part of the decision. Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled that Lt. Honulik could not demonstrate that he had been “maliciously singled out” with intent to injure by the town Read more WHERE IS THE GREENWICH TIME AND THE GREENWICH CITIZEN ? UPDATE: State supreme court rules in favor of town in police promotion suit By Debra Friedman ...The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the town was correct in their appeal, which asserted that they had the right to appoint any candidate from a promotional list "irrespective of their ranking according to examination score," according to an advanced release opinion posted on the court's Web site. .....The judgment calls for the case to be remanded to the trial court with the direction to render judgment in favor of the town HOWEVER THE GREENWICH TIME FAILS TO TELL IT'S READERS..... Greenwich Police Chief David Ridberg just might not be able to start promoting since the attorney in another suit against the town has asked for a temporary restraining order keeping the town from promoting anyone to the rank of lieutenant or higher. Sgt. Robert Berry is in a group of five former and current Greenwich officers claiming they were discriminated against by the town and denied the chance for promotion because of their military service. In a Jan. 3 motion on behalf of Sgt. Berry, attorney Richard Gudis asked for the temporary restraining order to stop any promotions, arguing it would hurt his professional standing if promotions were made before this suit was resolved ======================================================== Please send your comments to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com or click on the comments link at the end of this post.