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Lawsuit Pits Police Officers Against Chief, Mayor

WILKES-BARRE — Two Wilkes-Barre police union leaders filed a lawsuit in federal court. Sergeant Phil Myers and Dan Duffy say they were unfairly punished a...

WILKES-BARRE -- Two Wilkes-Barre police union leaders filed a lawsuit in federal court.

Sergeant Phil Myers and Dan Duffy say they were unfairly punished after failing to support Tony George's bid for mayor and making complaints about Police Chief Marcella Lendacky.

"It's pretty messed up because they're here to protect us,” said Destiny Lebron of Wilkes-Barre about the lawsuit.

"It's stupid. It's really stupid,” said Alicia Dante of Wilkes-Barre about the situation.

According to the lawsuit, Myers and Duffy say that as a lieutenant, Lendacky was "…altering police reports and/or reclassifying reports in order to reflect lesser crimes."

"It sounds really hazy and it doesn't sound too, sounds like bad news, sounds like there are some people who are maybe not being so honest about some things,” said Matthew Hinton, who lived in the city for years.

The lawsuit alleges Mayor Tony George and Chief Lendacky fired Duffy in October as retaliation and suspended Myers.

A city spokeswoman says city leaders will not comment on pending litigation.

This is just the latest in an ongoing controversy in Wilkes-Barre City Hall and Police Headquarters.

In October, city council members voted to investigate the police department.

"It’s an unhealthy situation. It's dysfunctional, obviously,” said council member and former police chief Bill Barrett.

The attorney for Myers and Duffy says he expects this lawsuit to go before a jury in about a year.

He says his clients want to be reinstated to their jobs with back pay and possibly more money for "pain and suffering."

"There needs to be open communication between both of those parties and the people who protect us, and the people who represent us need to be able to agree on some things, not moving numbers around,” said Hinton.

Duffy, who was once police chief in Scranton, is now working part-time as an officer in Larksville.

The full lawsuit can be read here.

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