Police captain filled in for suspended chief. Now, she’s suing him. - NJ.com

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The Hillside police chief who filed suit against the mayor last month after he was suspended for a second time is now being sued by a captain who was temporarily appointed to fill his role last year.

Hillside Mayor Dahlia Vertreese appointed Capt. Lashonda Burgess to run the department while Police Chief Vincent Ricciardi was suspended for four days in October 2019. Burgess filed suit on Monday claiming Ricciardi ordered her to work from 6 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. when he returned from his suspension and not to “affiliate with any political persons during working time.”

An attorney for Ricciardi, Ronald Ricci, said the chief had not yet been served with the lawsuit and declined to comment further. Attorneys for Burgess - John Vlasac and David Cassidy - declined to comment on the suit through an assistant when reached by phone on Wednesday.

Burgess claims her issues with Ricciardi began in 2014, when he attempted to discipline her for insubordination and other charges her suit says were not sustained. Her suit claims she also filed a workplace harassment complaint against him in 2014, his emails to her were “condescending and demeaning,” and he refused to nominate her for the FBI National Academy in 2019.

Ricciardi also criticized Burgess in April, at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, for accepting a lunch donation for other officers, the suit says.

She sent correspondence in December 2019 to the mayor, business administrator and township attorney asking for a formal investigation into the “harassing, discriminatory and retaliatory actions” by Ricciardi, the suit says. Burgess, who is African American, claims she was discriminated against based on her gender and race.

Burgess is suing the township and the police department because she alleges they did not take any action. She is not, however, suing the mayor.

Attorneys for the township declined to comment on the suit.

Hillside Police Chief Vincent Ricciardi stands with the town's mayor, Dahlia Vertreese at a police academy graduation ceremony in 2018.

Her lawsuit marks yet another chapter in a contentious back and forth between the mayor and police chief. Ricciardi sued the mayor last month after he was suspended a second time, this time - he says - over a stipend for another officer.

Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy ordered him back to the job and ruled last week that he could not be removed or demoted until the Union County Prosecutor’s Office concludes its investigation into the matter. The prosecutor’s office said it is still overseeing the department, ever since the mayor had issues with reinstating Ricciardi after the judge ordered him back to work.

Ricciardi’s attorney said the prosecutor’s office’s investigation into Ricciardi hasn’t concluded, but he expects the chief will be exonerated. If the mayor still wants to bring administrative charges after the investigation concludes, Ricci said, she will need two-thirds of the township council’s approval to do so.

An administrative hearing would be held if a majority of the council does not object, Ricci explained. If the chief is found guilty of administrative charges he could ultimately appeal to the state Civil Service Commission.

Ellen Harris, the township attorney, told NJ Advance Media that Ricci’s explanation about the township council was incorrect. She did not respond when asked to elaborate.

The superior officers and patrolmen unions both cast votes of no-confidence against Ricciardi last month.

Previous leaders in Hillside, a town of about 22,000, have squabbled with past police chiefs. Former Mayor Angela Garretson demoted the previous leader of the department, Louis Panarese, and he sued twice to get his job back.

Panarese settled his case for $281,000 last year. Ricciardi was promoted to chief in 2017 during the legal battle under Garretson’s tenure.

Vertreese became mayor in 2018 after a close run-off election, and her relationship with the town council and Hillside Democratic Committee Chairman Anthony Salters, who endorsed her for mayor, have soured. She claimed in a Star-Ledger guest column that she was bullied by the council.

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Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com.

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