NEWARK, N.J. - Jurors have awarded more than $1 million to a New Jersey state trooper who filed a whistle-blower lawsuit. The lawyer for retired Detective Sgt. 1st Class Brian Royster says that jurors in Essex County on Wednesday found that the State Police and Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes violated the act, which aims to protect those who speak out.
Royster, who is black, filed suit in 2005. The 48-year-old claimed that cases pending with the Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action unit were stalled without reason and troopers accused of misconduct had been allowed to retire instead of being disciplined.
