Glenn Coley

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

A Bergen County jury on Thursday, Aug. 7, awarded more than $2.1 million to a veteran Teaneck police officer who claimed in a lawsuit that he was targeted, demoted, and hit with “fabricated” charges after speaking out about misconduct inside the department.

Officer Glenn Coley, hired in 2002, filed his lawsuit in April 2022 against the Borough of Teaneck, the Teaneck Police Department, then Chief Glenn O’Reilly, Capt. Michael Ferrante, Sgt. Jeanette Williams, and Sgt. Kenneth Egbert. 

The 53-page complaint alleges the department and borough officials discriminated against him because of his race and retaliated after he engaged in protected whistleblower activity. The racial discrimination claims were later thrown out by a judge before trial. 

Attorney Scott Salmon says the Teaneck Police Department and its officers plan on appealing the decision. His statement, in full, reads:

While we appreciate the jury’s service, we disagree with their decision and stand behind our police department. It is important that the police department be able to hold officers accountable when they fail to do their job correctly, which is what happened in this case, and so we intend to appeal the decision.

Following a trial from July 22 to Aug. 7,  jurors found in Coley’s favor under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination and Conscientious Employee Protection Act. The award included:

  • $7,200 in back pay
  • $930,000 in emotional distress damages ($651,000 from the borough, $93,000 from O’Reilly, $93,000 from Ferrante, $46,500 each from Williams and Egbert)
  • $1.18 million in punitive damages ($875,000 from the borough, $125,000 from O’Reilly, $90,000 each from Ferrante and Egbert)

The total judgment was $2,117,200.

According to the complaint, in 2018, Coley gave sworn testimony in support of a township resident’s excessive force claim, the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit says Coley’s testimony contradicted fellow officers’ accounts and supported the civilian’s version of events.

After that, Coley says he was “branded a rat,” denied training, passed over for promotions, and given “menial or undesirable assignments.” The complaint accuses police leadership of creating a “hostile work environment” and initiating “fabricated disciplinary charges” designed to damage his reputation and career.

The lawsuit also details a 2019 suspension over an incident in a public park in which Coley detained a man believed to be armed. According to the filing, the suspect’s gun was not found in the first search but was discovered in a sneaker during a second search. Coley was suspended 15 days without pay for an “inadequate pat-down,” even though he was alone and without backup.

In one section, the complaint describes a “wrecking ball” campaign by certain supervisors to discredit Coley, calling it a “deliberate and malicious pattern of retaliation."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include that the racial discrimination claims made by Coley were later thrown out by a judge before trial.