PITTSBURGH -- The city will shell out some big taxpayer bucks to settle a whistle-blower lawsuit brought by a Pittsburgh police commander.

---

Bob Mayo's Blog: Counterpoints? The Mayor and McNeilly's Lawyers

---

Under the deal, Cmdr. Catherine McNeilly gets $85,000 and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's acknowledgment of her right -- and the right of all city workers -- to speak out.

But it turns out that there's still some skirmishing over exactly how the second part of the deal works.

On Tuesday, for the first time since the settlement was announced, McNeilly spoke out. She and her lawyers called the city's agreement to settle her lawsuit a vindication.

"I truly believed something bad would result if I didn't do what I had to do," said McNeilly. "So I would not have done anything differently."

She alleged Ravenstahl's public safety director nominee, Dennis Regan, improperly tried to influence police department matters.

"Cmdr. McNeilly is blowing the whistle loud and clear about wrongdoing in government," said her lawyer, Tim O'Brien. "She served as a watchdog, and we need whistleblowers and watchdogs."

Under the deal, Ravenstahl must publicly acknowledge city employees' First Amendment rights to speak out and protection under the state whistleblower law.

"Every employee has the right -- I've said this from the beginning -- to voice their opinion on anything related to city government," said Ravenstahl.

"The people who violated Cmdr. McNeilly's constitutional rights are in the City-County building," said Vic Walczak, of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Late Tuesday, Ravenstahl issued a statement, saying, "It is important to note that Ms. McNeilly was not disciplined for speaking her mind. Rather, she was disciplined for releasing to the public a police officer's confidential personnel file."

The statement also said that "the exercise of such rights is not absolute and must be balanced against the government's legitimate interest in the enforcement of its workplace rules."

McNeilly's attorneys then responded, saying, "The mayor's comments are rehash of the city's arguments in court that were flatly rejected by the court. We expect them to comply in good faith with the spirit and letter of the agreement."

McNeilly said she might say more, once City Council approves the settlement.

Retired federal Judge Donald Ziegler will arbitrate how much the city must pay later to cover the fees for McNeilly's attorneys. It won't come out of McNeilly's $85,000 and it could far exceed that figure.

---

Related Links:
More County News

Get RSS | E-Mail Alerts

---