According to Armstrong, the department's monitor, Robert Warshaw, wanted to prolong the department's federal oversight, a job for which Warshaw and a team of people are paid about $26,000 per month.
Armstrong's lawsuit, filed in February, made two accusations against the city and Thao: first, that the firing violated his First Amendment right to free speech, and second, that it broke state labor laws protecting whistleblowers.
At the heart of Armstrong's lawsuit are public comments he made in early 2023 in reaction to turmoil within OPD and the possibility of facing discipline.
The lawyers who wrote a city-commissioned report concluded that Armstrong had violated two policies—gross dereliction of duty and performance of duty—by allowing leniency towards a sergeant involved in serious misconduct.
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