Baton Rouge police union sues civilian board for violation of Police Officers' Bill of Rights

BATON ROUGE, LA - The president of the Baton Rouge Police Union has filed a lawsuit against the City of Baton Rouge and the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board over alleged violations of state law.

According to WAFB, Brandon O'Neal, the president of the police union, said that the lawsuit is tied to a hearing that was held in January where fired Baton Rouge Police Officers Troy Lawrence, Doug Chustz, and Todd Thomas were trying to appeal their terminations. The officers all alleged that their terminations were invalid because they were not done in accordance with the Police Officers' Bill of Rights.

The lawsuit states that when a decision was made during that meeting, it was done so in an executive session. During that executive session, the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board voted (4-1) to deny the request of the officers' appeals, but agreed to allow the officers a full appeals hearing in February. 

During the February meeting, their appeals were postponed indefinitely. WBRZ reported that O'Neal claims in the lawsuit that the board did not make a note on its agenda that it may go into executive session, which is when the public is shut out of the meeting while the board discusses something. Executive meetings can only be used for a select group of topics and types of discussions. The suit also claims that the board did not properly announce the reason for its executive session. 

State law requires that governmental bodies, from city councils to school boards to narrowly focused groups like the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board, to conduct business in public. It allows for a few exceptions, including for discussion involving collective bargaining strategies, lawsuits against the group or examinations of the character, health, competence, and performance of employees.

Even in those situations, boards cannot vote in executive session. They must allow the public back into the meeting before motions are made to take action in response to the topics discussed privately and must vote in public. O'Neal's suit asks the court to declare the board's executive session at the January 13th meeting to have been in violation of the open meetings law. 

The lawsuit states, "Neither the agenda nor the notice of special meeting indicated any intent by the Board to enter executive session ... The Board later returned from executive session and voted to take action on the matter, namely to deny the appellant officers' motion."

On Wednesday, February 19th, a federal judge denied the Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) officers' motions to dismiss a lawsuit connected to the so-called "Brave Cave," an alleged unmarked police facility where detainees were allegedly subjected to unlawful strip searches and mistreatment.
According to WKRG, the federal judge ruled against motions filed by BRPD officers Kathleen F. Alvarado-Cruz, Matthew Wallace, and former officer Lawrence, rejecting their request to dismiss claims against them.

The lawsuit was filed by Ternell L. Brown, who alleges she was unlawfully detained, strip searched, and subject to a body cavity search at the Brave Cave in June 2023. The alleged facility was shut down in September 2023 after multiple lawsuits and reports of mistreatment by members of BRPD's now-disbanded Street Crimes Unit.

The Brave Cave was allegedly used as an interrogation site by the Street Crimes Unit. Multiple lawsuits and an FBI civil rights investigation let to its shutdown. Brown's lawsuit is one of several filed against BRPD officers in connection to alleged mistreatment at the Brave Cave. She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages as well as an injunction to prevent further constitutional violations.

Despite the legal challenge, BRPD initially dismissed Brown's complaint, informing her that "the officers had done nothing wrong and that her treatment was proper." With the federal judge's ruling, the case against the BRPD officers will move forward.