It's not clear exactly when Anthony Sarni will return to work, but it could be pending a psychiatric review.
UPDATE: The township says it is "outraged" by the decision but will abide by it.
EDISON -- In another legal setback for Edison's efforts to fire a police officer who asked a woman to model underwear for him -- a scandal that has become known as the "lingerie episode" -- a Superior Court judge has ordered the town to put the officer back to work during an appeal of his case.
Patrolman Anthony Sarni was fired in October, but earlier this month, Judge Douglas K. Wolfson reversed the town's decision and said Sarni should get his job back. The town requested a stay -- in other words, a delay in the order going into effect. Town officials wanted to keep Sarni out of work, even if it meant paying him to stay at home, while its legal team appealed the judge's decisions and continued to pursue Sarni's termination.
The judge denied that delay Tuesday, ruling that Sarni must return to work as his case progresses through the court system. Not only does the township have to start paying Sarni again, it also has to give him his gun and badge back, despite the town's request to keep him at home and send him his paychecks anyway, Wolfson ruled.
"Tony's very glad to be going back to work," said Steven D. Cahn, Sarni's attorney. "He's a police officer. That's what he's dedicated to doing -- serving the town."
http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2015/08/anthony_sarni_internal_affairs_documents.html
Sarni admitted to Internal Affairs detectives that he went back to a woman's hotel room in September 2012 after an emergency call while he was off duty, but still in his uniform with his badge and gun. He also acknowledged that he asked the woman to try on several outfits that she'd purchased earlier in the day, and said that she complied with his request.
But he denied, contrary to the woman's claims, that he tried to use marijuana he'd found in the room as leverage to get her to take her clothes off. He also denied he explicitly propositioned her for sex. The woman said she felt coerced by Sarni.
Before he's returned back to work, Sarni must undergo a psychological evaluation and other re-training, his lawyer said. That could take about a month. The department has signaled that it will likely give him an administrative assignment in police headquarters, where he would have a more limited interaction with the public.
Judge Wolfson ruled that the town was wrong to fire Sarni, because it waited too long to discipline him for the lingerie episode. The town claimed he lied to Internal Affairs investigators, but Wolfson decided that he only lied because of misleading questions. The legal battle has already racked up huge legal bills, estimated in the six figures for Sarni's defense, and taken more than three years.
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.