
The NEPBA announces settlement with the Massachusetts POST Commission
The NEPBA today announced that it – along with other law enforcement labor groups – had reached a settlement with the Massachusetts POST Commission over alleged constitutional violations related to questionnaires POST required police officers to answer, and which also inquired into social media posts and group membership and affiliations. After litigation brought by NEPBA and others, POST has agreed to withdraw, and not include in the future, inquiries deemed unconstitutional by the Superior Court in its review of the Complaint.
NEPBA President Chris Ryan stated that he was pleased with the settlement and noted that “Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to protect the rights of all of us to live and function in a free society. We have the same First Amendment and other Constitutional Rights as the rest of the citizenry, and we are proud to have fought and won again on behalf of our membership. As NEPBA strongly believed these early POST questionnaires were overly broad and unfair, we immediately went to court on behalf of our entire Massachusetts membership.”
POST has agreed to pay a portion of the NEPBA attorney fees incurred in the matter and the Complaint, captioned NEPBA and Dan Gilbert vs. the POST Commission, will be dismissed with the NEPBA reserving its right to address future violations. NEPBA gives a special thanks to NEPBA Local 911, the Worcester Police Patrol Union, for stepping up and agreeing to be our representative plaintiff in the lawsuit as well as NEPBA Attorneys Peter Perroni and Gary Nolan.
A copy of the related Court decision on the Plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction is attached.