Judge Rules Chief Porter Cannot Double-Dip Job Pay And Pension

Chief Roderick Porter had retired as a captain, collecting his pension, prior to his appointment as chief in 2022.

See court decision here

From Dan Tepfer, CT Examiner:

Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter can not both collect his pension and his salary, a judge ruled Tuesday.

State Judicial Trial Referee Henry Cohen ruled that the Connecticut Municipal Employees Retirement Commission did not act “unreasonably, arbitrarily, illegally, or in abuse of its discretion,” when it ruled Porter could not double-dip.

“Here, the plaintiff is an employee of a participating municipality who was included in the municipality’s pension plan. The commission found that the position of police chief has historically participated in the retirement system; the administrative record shows that the position of police chief was admitted to the system in 2006 and, as the plaintiff points out, the entire police department was added in 2013,” Cohen stated in his ruling. “Given this,” he continued, “the commission’s determinations could reasonably and logically follow from the history of the police chief position and the plaintiff’s employment. Accordingly, the court defers to the commission’s findings.”

Porter’s lawyer, Thomas Bucci, told CT Examiner, “We are reviewing the decision and will decide on a next step.”

The trial referee did state that Porter can appeal to the commission its earlier ruling that he pay back two years of his $143,000 salary for illegally collecting on his pension at the same time.

Full story here