The attorney for a former Tyrone police officer says the borough has gone too far in printing unproved allegations in an answer to a lawsuit that the officer filed in March.
Pittsburgh attorney Ryan O. Hemminger has asked U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson to order the allegations taken out of the public record of the ongoing case.
He contends that by not removing the allegations from the answer by the borough, former officer Greg Ray "may suffer further irreparable and widespread damage to his reputation, effectively destroying his career in law enforcement."
The borough's attorney, Thomas P. McGinnis, was in court and not available for comment Tuesday.
Ray filed a lawsuit challenging his firing in March, contending that the police chief had based his firing on unproved allegations dating back many years.
The former officer said he was fired because of his activities as a shop steward with the union representing the officers.
The borough replied, listing a series of alleged missteps by Ray, including drug allegations, which Ray denies.
According to Hemminger, Ray in his lawsuit purposely did not detail what he called "false and damaging allegations."
Tyrone went beyond denying the allegations in Ray's lawsuit and outlined the specific offenses, Hemminger said.
He said the judge has authority to remove material from the borough's answer that amounts to "scandalous matter" or material that "casts a derogatory light on someone."
The borough said allegations against Ray were investigated by a private firm before the decision was made to fire him.
Ray said he was fired prior to a decision by the state attorney general declaring the allegations against Ray unfounded.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
