Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Scott Aly, a former Asheville police officer who was fired in 2010 after pornographic and racially inflammatory images were found on a computer he rented, has won the latest round in his long-running legal fight for the reinstatement of his job and full back pay.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has issued a decision upholding a Superior Court decision that also found Aly was wrongly terminated.
Aly was terminated by former Asheville Police Chief Bill Hogan. Aly appealed the decision to City Manager Gary Jackson, who upheld the firing. Aly then took his case to the Asheville Civil Service board, which found that Aly’s actions violated police department policies and its code of conduct, but were “not so severe as to warrant termination.”
Aly had rented a computer from Aaron’s and hooked his phone to it. That connection downloaded images from Aly’s phone to the computer.
In December 2009, Respondent (Aly) returned the computer to Aaron’s. He testified that before doing so, he attempted to remove the files that he had downloaded onto the computer by highlighting the files, moving them into the “recycling bin,” and selecting “empty.” He further testified that, unbeknownst to him, this procedure failed to remove the files that Respondent had imported from his cell phone and downloaded onto the computer. These files contained, in part, various pictures of Respondent’s family, friends, pets, and fellow APD officers in uniform. However, other files contained pictures of nude women and racially offensive images.
To put the Aly case in context, remember that about this same time, Hogan was dealing with a couple of other big police department scandals: the mishandling of evidence in the department’s property room, and the high-profile sexual harassment case involving an officer accused of harassing a subordinate. Background here and here.
That’s y I can’t trust the apd. There’s too much bullshit with them. This officer knows what he did was wrong,and he’s a racist!! He wins a lawsuit, WOW!! Ok and the police wonders why they are being targets. PEOPLE ARE TIRED!!!!!
At the conclusion of the Superior Court hearing in February, the City admitted that their legal costs to that point amount to approximately $70,000. Taxpayer dollars. That was not factoring in the costs for their appeal to the Court of Appeals. If they comply with this court’s ruling, they’ll owe Aly around $200,000 in back pay. And let’s not even think about the inevitable civil suit that Aly will file….attorney’s fees, punitive damages….
Add this to the list (which is now in the millions of dollars) of legal costs that the City has incurred as a result of Jackson and Co. and their inept management.
Man, that’s gonna be an awkward first day back at work.
very disappointing
so he’s a racist and a freak, but no so good with tech