VOORHEES, N.J. (1010 WINS) — A New Jersey police detective's lawsuit alleging that his police chief and the township discriminated against him because of a medical condition resulted in a $730,000 settlement last July, according to a new report.
According to NJ Advance, Richard Taylor, a former veteran Voorhees detective and police officer, claimed in 2019 that Police Chief Louis Bordi and the township violated his constitutional right to privacy and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
Taylor, who had been with the department for 17 years when the suit was filed, was placed on leave based on a recommendation in the fall of 2017 from his doctor due to a long-term medical condition.
According to the suit, Taylor was cleared to return to work by his doctor in January 2018, but the chief's wife, Captain April Herrington-Bordi, told him the referral was "unacceptable" because the doctor's note came from a psychiatrist. NJ Advance did not provide any information on Taylor's medical condition.
Taylor was then asked to list the medications he was taking that could affect his role as a police officer, according to the NJ Advance, and was told that in order to return as a detective, he needed to sign a "contract" agreeing to complete outstanding paperwork and close 2017 cases he was working on over the next three months.
According to the suit, in May 2018, Herrington-Bordi told Taylor he was being demoted to a patrol officer, and allegedly approached her husband, saying, "At the end of the day, I am the Chief, and I run the day-to-day operations. I have the final say as far as officer assignments, and I put people where I want."
He claimed in the suit that the township and Bordi required him to be evaluated by a psychologist, who later found Taylor was fit for work and recommended weekly counseling.
Taylor was eventually charged by internal affairs for failing to provide Chief Bordi and Voorhees with his medication list.
In exchange, he provided the list and was allowed to return to "light duty capacity," but the psychologist advised that he should begin three months of counseling before being cleared for a full return to duty, according to the lawsuit.
On Nov. 20, 2018, Taylor received a "preliminary notice of disciplinary action" from the chief and the township "seeking his termination from employment on the ground that, since the expiration of (a medical leave on Oct. 18, 2018), he has been ‘absent without leave from duty."
Taylor's lawsuit alleges Voorhees did not adequately accommodate him for his disability, discriminated against him and retaliated against him for taking a medical leave of absence.
"(Taylor) further alleges that … (Police Chief) Bordi aided and abetted in the discrimination and retaliation against (him) in violation of the provisions of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination…," the suit read.
Eventually, a settlement was reached, and Taylor received $500,000 and his attorney, Barasch of Schall & Barasch, received $230,000 from the Township of Voorhees and its insurance company as part of the settlement.
"The township agreed to the settlement after mediation and by the recommendation of legal counsel. The majority of the settlement was paid by the (town’s) insurance company," Stuart Platt, who represented the Voorhees in the lawsuit, told NJ Advance Media.
As part of the settlement, Bordi was also dismissed from the lawsuit, according to Platt.
Platt noted Taylor was also fired prior to the lawsuit, and he agreed not to seek re-employment with the township, with all parties agreeing that no one would be held accountable for any wrongdoing.
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