Trial begins in discrimination lawsuit against Edison police sergeant, department, township

EDISON â€" Edison police Officer Joseph Kenney had pulled two victims from a smoldering, overturned car when he was approached by his sergeant, Alex Glinsky.

"He said Joe, why did you go in the car? They’re nothing but dirty filthy … Indians," Kenney said he was told by the sergeant.

Kenney’s comments came during his testimony in the first day of trial of his whistle-blower lawsuit against Glinsky, the police department and the township.

Kenney, 60, and still a police officer, claims he suffered retaliation from the department, including a paid suspension and a department charge of insubordination, for reporting Glinsky’s comments and the sergeant’s alleged failure to assist in the rescue at the accident scene on July 3, 2008.

Officials reprimanded Kenney for speaking out against a superior officer at his squad’s roll call the day after the accident, said Kenney’s attorney, Theodore Campbell of East Brunswick.

Kenney "did the right thing in pulling people out of the car and did the right thing in speaking out about Glinsky’s actions," Campbell said.

Eric Harrison, an attorney representing the township, said in his opening statement in court today that the insubordination charge was dropped. Kenney was placed on paid administrative leave, he said, to recover from the trauma of the accident in which two people died, although the driver, one of the people Kenney rescued, survived.

Harrison said Kenney, who suffered burns and bruised ribs in the rescue, was placed on leave in part because of his anger towards Glinsky, who retired earlier this year. Harrison said that days after the accident, Kenney spoke with then-Edison police Director Brian Collier, saying he wanted to "kill" Glinsky, though it was unclear how seriously he meant the comment.

Harrison said Glinsky denied making the statement about the accident victims. When the lawsuit was filed, Glinsky’s attorney said the complaint was baseless and the result of long-standing issues between Glinsky and Kenney.

Glinsky had just been assigned to "D" Squad, on which Kenney worked, on the day of the accident, according to testimony. Kenney testified Glinsky had previously been assigned to the squad but was removed for harassing him.

Previous coverage:

• Edison police officer sues township claiming discrimination