NORTH HUNTINGDON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A lawsuit was filed Wednesday against North Huntingdon, claiming that the township’s former police chief, Andrew Lisiecki, was fired in retaliation for his testimony in a legal proceeding that upheld the termination of a subordinate officer.
The suit filed on behalf of Lisiecki, who served as chief from May 2012 to September 2016, seeks the recovery of compensatory and punitive damages, and attorney’s fees and costs. Also named as defendants in the lawsuit are North Huntingdon officials Tony Martino, David Herold, Darryl Bertani and Michael Faccenda Jr.
According to the lawsuit, Officer William Sombo was disciplined various times after Lisiecki became chief for misconduct, including use of excessive force and insubordination. It is alleged that Martino and Herold “initiated several unwarranted investigations” against Lisiecki “in an attempt to discredit him and undermine his authority.”
Sombo was suspended, subject to termination, following a third-party investigation and was formally terminated in April 2014, the lawsuit detailed. Sombo filed a grievance, and Lisiecki testified under oath at evidentiary hearings before Sombo’s firing was upheld in March 2015.
After the decision to uphold Sombo’s termination, Lisiecki learned that Martino and Herold created a “hit list” of officers, including Lisiecki, who testified against Sombo.
In November 2015, a new Board of Commissioners was elected, giving control to Martino, Herold, Faccenda and Bertani.
The four men in January 2016 “began a more concerted effort to retaliate against” Lisiecki and other officers who testified against Sambo, and Lisiecki was ordered by them to “conduct unwarranted investigations into alleged wrongdoing on the part of officers on the ‘hit list,’” the lawsuit said.
Lisiecki’s firing came “without any formal advance notice” during a public meeting in September 2016, when the Board of Commissioners voted 4-3 in favor of his termination. Martino, Herold, Faccenda and Bertani were the four who voted in favor of the decision.
“Basically what they sent me in the letter was I was let go for no reason whatsoever,” Lisiecki said.
Before being named chief of police in North Huntingdon, Lisiecki served for 25 years as a police officer for the city of Pittsburgh.
He was also chief of police for the Borough of Green Tree for three years. He came under fire during his time serving in Green Tree for
. Lisiecki said the action was necessary to charge the woman. He was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Lisiecki told Channel 11 News that since his firing in September, he hasn’t been able to get a job, not even as a part time officer.
“I haven't heard back from anybody because I think everybody hears that I was fired by a majority vote of board so they obviously think I was doing something wrong,” he said.
One commissioner named in the lawsuit responded to Channel 11 News, saying he could not comment because he hadn’t seen the lawsuit yet.
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