NASHVILLE
The Tennessee Highway Patrol has terminated a trooper accused of filing a false complaint against a lieutenant in the Knoxville district.
The state Department of Safety today served Trooper Marty Nix with a "minimum due process letter for termination" following an internal investigation into the false complaint, according to a Safety Department release.
"I recommended to Commissioner Dave Mitchell that Trooper Nix be terminated for conduct unbecoming," THP Col. Mike Walker says in the release. "The recommendation to terminate was based upon evidence developed during an investigation conducted by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)."
The termination is based on six violations of Department of Human Resources and Department of Safety rules and policies, including failure to maintain satisfactory and harmonious relationships with the public and fellow employees," according to the release.
Nix has the right to appeal.
The internal investigation found that Nix made an anonymous phone call to a staff attorney on Feb. 29, alleging a lieutenant in the Knoxville district had made sexual gestures toward a female employee.
The female employee told investigators she had not been sexually harassed.
On March 13, Nix confirmed that he had made the call. On March 20, Nix was interviewed by internal investigators and said another trooper had given him the information about the allegations, according to today's release.
A polygraph examination of Nix indicated deception, according to the release.
The termination comes after Nix in June filed a federal lawsuit against the Tennessee Department of Safety, which commands THP, and a slew of superiors.
The superiors include Mitchell, Walker, Lt. Col. Tracey Trott, Major John Savage, Capt. Raymond Fletcher, Capt. Victor Donoho, Lt. Michael Womack, and Sgt. Charles Shaver.
Nix in his lawsuit accused the agency's commanders of punishing troopers whose politics do not square with theirs, doling out promotions based on politics and protecting troubled troopers whose politics suit them.
The lawsuit followed a two-week suspension without pay in October 2007, the result of a series of allegations against Nix, 43, a nine-year veteran of the THP.
The first complaint was filed in May 2007 by a Loudon County lawman who alleged Nix cursed him out after he arrested Nix's brother on misdemeanor charges, including possession of drug paraphernalia. Nix denied the allegation.
A month later, then-Knox County Medical Examiner Dr. Sandra Elkins alleged Nix showed up in uniform to collect 54 photos in a death investigation of a friend of Nix's that the trooper was not involved in. Nix insists he made it clear he was picking up the photos on behalf of relatives of the victim.
Soon after that complaint, THP officers inspected Nix's cruiser and found an envelope of seized cocaine and photographs of a nude woman. He disavowed the photos and deemed his failure to turn in the drugs as an oversight.
Attempts to reach Nix or his attorney, Arthur F. Knight III, were not immediately successful,
The Safety Department has denied treating Nix unfairly and contended his suspension was justified.
The lawsuit demands back pay, removal from his personnel file any negative documents and compensatory damages. Nix had remained employed at THP, although he was taken off road patrols and assigned to a weigh station.
No comments:
Post a Comment