CHRO ex. rel. Donald Rajtar v. Town of Bloomfield - Connecticut ...

o Sergeant Mathena and Sergeant Driscoll were friends, and Mathenareferred to Officer Spellman as “old Bob.” There is no evidence that hereferred to Captain Blatter as “old Jeff” or Chief Hard as “old Betsy.”Clearly there was something about older patrol officers that made themfair game for derision. It is true that they were subordinates and as suchcould be engaged safely, but they appear to have been more thansubordinates – more like oddities, or at the very least outsiders. The samemindset emerges with another sergeant (Gerrish) addressing thecomplainant and Officer Spellman at morning roll call in a loud voice so asto imply that they could no longer hear. These patrolmen were odditiesand it was fair game to point this out to their peers and superiors, even ina public setting.o Lieutenant Willauer – who was the investigator upon whose narrativeChief Hard relied in the Rajtar IA – effectively admits to calling thecomplainant and Officer Spellman “young man” despite beingconsiderably younger than both. Why? To remind them that they aredifferent?He admitted in his testimony to commenting on thecomplainant’s collared shirts and testified that he found the complainant’swearing of such shirts “amusing.” Again, why? Lieutenant Willauer’sresponse was to the effect that the other officers dressed in sweats. Hestated the “rest of us” looked like “bums.” This too may appear innocuous,but indicates that even to his eventual inquisitor, he was perceived as anoutsider.Page 50 of 56