LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – A judge has affirmed the firing of a former captain with the Nebraska State Patrol after he filed suit last year.
Judge Andrew Jacobsen ruled last month that the Nebraska State Patrol had acted appropriately when firing then-Capt. Matthew Sutter on Nov. 11, 2022.
The firing came into legal contention after Sutter filed a lawsuit early last year alleging a toxic workplace and retaliation within the patrol.
In the lawsuit, Sutter’s attorneys list a range of investigations he oversaw following his promotion to captain in 2019. The investigations, which ranged among a reportedly inappropriate relationship, another captain’s alleged bigotry and accusations of misused funds in the Carrier Enforcement Division, largely resulted in critiques of upper management.
As Sutter pressed for action in each of the investigations, the lawsuit alleges management pressed back, eventually denying Sutter a pay raise and launching an investigation into his conduct. The investigation ended with a serious allegation and led to Sutter’s firing in late 2022.
The Nebraska State Patrol accused then-Capt. Sutter of leaking confidential information to the press on several occasions following his promotion. Sutter’s attorneys argued the information he shared had already been made public when he passed it along, and therefore could not be seen as confidential.
Judge Jacobsen, however, disagreed. Sutter was accused of sharing information related to presidential and vice-presidential visits, a barricaded suspect and the arrival of COVID-19 patients in Nebraska. The judge wrote that Sutter had shared the information with a former journalist with KMTV to “win her affections.”
He cited several text messages containing flirtatious language that were often sent alongside relevant information to the visits, barricaded suspect and COVID-19 patients. Judge Jacobsen wrote, “His actions were unprofessional, bad public relations, and very unbecoming of an officer.” He also found that Sutter had misused the state’s network to share inappropriate memes, look for a new job and play in a celebrity dead pool.
The judge concluded that the Nebraska State Patrol had proper reason to conduct an investigation into then-Capt. Sutter and provided him with due process in its disciplinary action. It’s unclear if Sutter plans to appeal the ruling.
Sutter’s lawsuit provides details into another lawsuit filed by Capt. Gerry Krolikowski which was settled late last year. Krolikowski alleged similar retaliation after raising the issue of allegedly misused funding in the Carrier Enforcement Division. Krolikowski, who has served with the Nebraska State Patrol since 1984, raised concerns about the division’s funding being used outside its statutory purview.
Krolikowski’s attorneys alleged his concerns went unheard and eventually resulted in the captain’s reassignment to the Process Improvements Division, a department generally viewed as a place to sideline employees who cross management to “shame” them.
A filing in October showed the State of Nebraska had entered into a settlement agreement with Krolikowski over the matter. The amount he’ll receive is unclear, but the settlement will need to be approved by the Nebraska Legislature in its 2025 session.
Additionally, another lawsuit against the Nebraska State Patrol was filed in late December by former captain Kurt Von Minden. His attorneys allege similar acts of retaliation from management after then-Capt. Von Minden investigated reports of troopers using anti-LGBTQ and racist slurs, sexually harassing and assaulting employees, and collaborating with drug dealers.
Von Minden, who’d been with the patrol since 1998 until his resignation in 2023, pushed management to put several disgraced troopers on the Brady Giglio List. The list organizes law enforcement members who’ve been accused of biased or dishonest conduct so attorneys can more easily examine their testimony in criminal convictions.
Two employees Von Minden investigated eventually resigned from the patrol and went on to new roles at other police stations, according to the lawsuit. His attorneys claim one former sergeant, who allegedly conducted business with a drug dealer, was later hired as the chief for a police department in Iowa.
The lawsuit claims Von Minden pushed for stronger accountability following these investigations and was eventually demoted to sergeant and reassigned to the Liquor Enforcement Division. Von Minden’s attorneys say the move was explicitly retaliatory as it dramatically reduced his oversight and meant he would report to a member of the patrol he had “promoted and mentored.”
Then-Capt. Von Minden resigned from the patrol a short time after his reassignment as he was “unable to tolerate the punitive and retaliatory post-demotion working conditions,” his attorneys wrote. A future court date for Von Minden’s lawsuit has yet to be set.
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