NEWARK — A former Rutgers University police sergeant has reached a seven-figure settlement with his former employer after he accused the department of firing him for exposing bad behavior.
Michael Farella, of Milltown, will get $720,000 of the $1.2 million settlement, which was reached on Jan. 6. His attorneys will get the remaining $490,000.
John Paff with TransparencyNJ.com first reported on the massive payout on Wednesday.
Farella joined the Rutgers University Police Department in Newark in 2001. He was promoted to sergeant and served on the force until he was fired in 2018, according to the lawsuit filed in March 2019.
The lawsuit said Farella was fired after his superiors found out he was the author of a letter exposing his fellow police officers at Rutgers.
According to court documents, Farella sent the letter to the department's chief and deputy chief in August 2017.
The letter outed supervisors in the department for drinking on duty, sleeping on duty, stealing overtime, failing drug tests, conducting private side business on duty, getting paid on days they didn't show up for work, and losing disciplinary files, the lawsuit said.
It also...
THOUSANDS of users of a weight-loss supplement are set to receive a major pay out following a six-figure settlement. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Roca Labs had duped customers ...