A former White Hall Police Officer who was fired in April alleges in a lawsuit filed Monday that he was terminated for reporting alleged illegal activity by another officer earlier this year.
The lawsuit, filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court names the City of White Hall and the Police Department and seeks damages for lost salary, a decrease in retirement benefits, loss of medical coverage, “extreme humiliation and embarrassment.” It was filed by Little Rock attorney David R. Horn
Neither the City of White Hall nor the Police Department have filed a response to the lawsuit which was filed by Stephen Moreau.
Moreau, who at the time of his firing was a Sergeant with the White Hall Police Department and had been since Oct. 23, 2016.As a part of his duties, he was also responsible as a supervisor for the training and discipline of subordinate police officers in proper conduct and police procedure.
According to the lawsuit, on March 9, Moreau watched body cam footage of Officer Christian Carroll and “became aware that he had stopped a vehicle without any probable cause and arrested an individual on a warrant without confirming the validity of the warrant in violation of department policy. Moreau said he submitted a report of the illegal activity to Maj. Mickey Buffkin, White Hall Police Department administrator who allegedly said he “didn’t want anything to do with it and did not want to hear anything about it.”
Moreau said he also informed Chief Greg Shapiro and Buffkin that Carroll’s misconduct was in violation of the Constitutional rights of individuals, specifically the illegal seizure of individuals, the improper arrest of individuals and the illegal search of individuals. The lawsuit said Shapiro and Buffkin took no action against him or made any effort to correct his behavior.
Subsequent to the complaint, the lawsuit said Carroll claimed he was being subjected to a hostile work environment by Moreau and although Shapiro knew the claim was false, he did not conduct an investigation into it.
On April 11, Moreau was called to the Office of White Hall Mayor Noel Foster and was told he was being terminated with no explanation other than he was “an at-will employee.”
Four days later, Moreau said he sent a written request to Shapiro and Foster asking for an appeal of his termination but that request was denied in a letter from Foster dated April 27. Moreau also said he hand-delivered a letter to Foster on Sept. 6 requesting voluntary mediation as required by the Arkansas Whistle Blower Act but Foster did not respond.
