Anthony Sarni's benefits will remain intact.
EDISON -- An Edison patrolman fired last week after admitting that he showed up at an area hotel in uniform and asked a woman to model lingerie for him will continue to receive government health insurance benefits as he fights his termination.
Anthony Sarni's insurance was reinstated by Superior Court Judge Douglas Wolfson, who is hearing Sarni's lawsuit against the town. In a hearing last week, Wolfson declined to immediately reinstate Sarni to the Edison Police Department, but asked lawyers for briefs on the case before another court hearing later this month.
Sarni's attorneys say he has a strong case to get him back in uniform -- and that his renewed health insurance is a sign of that -- but the township said it will vigorously defend his firing.
"We feel confident that the township's actions were unlawful and in violation of clearly established protections afforded not just to police officers, but to all individuals who are the subject of government action," Sarni's attorney Steven Cahn said in an email.
Sarni was fired last week, more than two years after he was originally suspended with pay for an encounter with a woman at the Extended Stay America hotel in Raritan Center.
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The woman told police that Sarni, while responding to a call at her room, asked her to model lingerie for him. She claimed that police had let her flush a small amount of marijuana down the toilet, which the responding officers denied. After Sarni's shift ended, he returned to her hotel room, and again requested a show, she later claimed. Sarni was still in his police uniform and had his service weapon when he made the second alleged request -- which she complied with.
An independent hearing officer issued a decision last week that threw out the charges against Sarni, who was accused of lying. Previous charges related to his conduct that night had already been thrown out, because the town waited too long to act. The town could appeal that decision, potentially setting up a lengthy and expensive legal battle.
"Allegations against this police officer are so egregious and the evidence so persuasive that I cannot in good conscience abide by the hearing officer's decision," Mayor Thomas Lankey, who is also the town's public safety director, said in an emailed statement after he fired Sarni. "His actions are reprehensible for a sworn officer."
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The town-hired hearing officer's ruling starkly criticized the town's Internal Affairs investigators, accusing a captain in the Sarni case of being disingenuous. He also ruled that Sarni only lied about his actions that night because he was afraid of leaks to the press, and was uncertain whether the IA interview was criminal or just for discipline. But the biggest problem with the town's case is that disciplinary charges against Sarni were not filed in time.
Edison Business Administrator Maureen Ruane said the town "vehemently disagrees with the hearing officer's decision and is confident this termination will stand."
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
