Former Sturgeon Police Chief Greg Halderman was awarded compensatory and punitive damages Friday following a weeklong civil trial against the city and former alderman Tyler Patterson.
Halderman was awarded $300,000 in compensatory damages from the city and Patterson, and $15,000 in punitive damages from Patterson, said Halderman's attorney, J. Andrew Hirth, in a news release from TGH Litigation LLC.
"We are tremendously pleased that (Halderman) has been vindicated by a jury of his peers," Hirth said in the release. "(He) was falsely accused of alcohol abuse and wrongfully removed from office in retaliation for his reports of wrongdoing by personal friends of the alderman.
"This jury has sent a powerful message to city councils across the state not to interject politics into local law enforcement."
The jury decided in favor of Halderman's claims of tortious interference with employment relationship and wrongful discharge dating back to 2017, Hirth noted.
Halderman was fired following a report he gave to the Boone County Sheriff's Department alleging a friend of Patterson may have been involved in domestic assault and child neglect, Hirth said. Halderman also reported Patterson to the Missouri Attorney General's Office for allegedly removing his original personnel file from city hall, a violation of the Missouri Sunshine Law.
Patterson urged Halderman's removal under a Missouri statute aimed at protecting municipal police chiefs from political reprisal, Hirth said.
Halderman was fired in 2017 over allegations of alcohol abuse and reckless conduct.
Halderman was reinstated by Boone County Circuit Judge Jeff Harris in 2019, finding the city failed to follow the removal statute and had deprived Halderman of due process, Hirth said.
Halderman was placed on administrative leave following his reinstatement. The alcohol abuse allegation was dropped for his second removal hearing, Hirth said.
Halderman currently works for Foy Trent Dog Shows based in Sturgeon, Hirth said.
Sturgeon residents interviewed by the Tribune at the time of his firing as police chief supported Halderman.
“I think he’s great,” Gina Haas said in 2017. “I like Officer Greg. He’s helped me out.”
“He’s the best chief, if not the best cop, we’ve ever had in Sturgeon,” then-mayoral candidate Anthony Jones said at the time. “Respectful, he can be tough when he wants, but he listens to people, he talks to people.”
Then-Mayor Gene Kelly said in 2017 that he supported Halderman's removal because of a series of complaints against the police chief. Those complaints were spelled out in a 33-page packet Kelly sent to Halderman, including that Halderman was unfit to serve as chief because of an alcohol problem.
The packet included claims that Halderman responded to a domestic violence incident after drinking and an incident at the Boone County Jail when he allegedly yelled at people and threatened a suspect with prison time.
