SUPERIOR COURT — A six-member jury has awarded $1.4 million to a former Hamburg police officer who said he was physically and mentally abused by two superiors causing him to resign his position with the borough.

SUPERIOR COURT — A six-member jury has awarded $1.4 million to a former Hamburg police officer who said he was physically and mentally abused by two superiors causing him to resign his position with the borough.



Daniel Farruggio was awarded $144,000 for loss of wages, $500,000 for emotional distress and $800,000 in punitive damages.



Farruggio worked for the Hamburg Police Department from late 2009 until his resignation in May 2013. He filed a civil suit against the borough in February 2014 saying he was harassed out of his job after complaining about what he saw as illegal activity within the department.



The jury issued its decisions on Wednesday in front of Superior Court Judge Frank J. DeAngelis after four days of testimony last week and half-day deliberations last Friday and Wednesday.



After the verdict was read, Farruggio shed tears of happiness, embracing his attorney, Louis Barbone, of Atlantic City, thanking him for his efforts.



Barbone declined to comment on the outcome of the case.



Defense attorney representing the borough, John Bowen of the firm Schenck Price Smith & King, said that he needs to discuss with his clients prior to making an appeal in this case, should he choose to make one.



Farruggio alleged that the borough violated the state’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act because he was subjected to mistreatment after he refused to dismiss a parking ticket given to the wife of a corrections officer when told to do so by then-Sgt. David McNulty — McNulty has since been demoted to patrolman for unrelated reasons — and Police Director Wayne Yahm.



During his testimony, Farruggio alleged that McNulty slapped him across the back of his head, that he was made to clean bathrooms and was put on “permanent” 12-hour night shifts for several months.



Farruggio was suspended on Feb. 8, 2013, when an investigation was begun by McNulty of the employment application Farruggio filed before he was hired in 2009. At the same time, he was told he was also under investigation by the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office about incorrect/missing statements on a pistol permit application he had filed the previous month in Hardyston.



Inside the courtroom on Wednesday, the jury decided that Farruggio did not resign from his position as a police officer from Hamburg solely to avoid prosecution by the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office.



In addition, the jury found that Farruggio’s attorney was able to establish enough evidence to show that his client objected to activity, specifically in refusing to dismiss a parking ticket, and that retaliatory action was taken against him.



The jury also said that enough evidence was present to show there was a connection between whistle blowing activity and the plaintiff’s resignation.



The $800,000 verdict for punitive damages came after the jury had to decide that conduct made by upper management — in this case, decide if Yahm and McNulty were in that position — was “willful and made with evil-mindedness.”



Punitive damages not only punish the “wrong-doer,” DeAngelis said, but deters the “wrong-doer” from future conduct.



Before the jury deliberated the punitive damages on Wednesday afternoon, defense attorney Bowen asked the jury, “Should the borough be responsible and penalized because of the conduct of its employees?”



Barone, in presenting his closing argument in the punitive stage, said to the jury, “What does it take to punish sufficiently, what does it take (that the) next kid, 23 or 24 (years old) in the Hamburg Police Department doesn’t get smacked around like Farruggio was?”



Barone also stated that Hamburg Borough is not “broke,” saying that the borough’s revenue was $3.2 million and their surplus was $485,000 in their adopted budget for 2017.



Although Farruggio was seeking re-employment and benefits in his lawsuit, he has chosen not to seek re-employment at the Hamburg Borough Police Department.



Lori Comstock can also be reached on Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH or by phone: 973-383-1194.





Editor's Note: The headline and article have been updated to clarify that Farruggio will receive a total of $1,444,000. This includes $144,000 for loss of wages, $500,000 for emotional distress and�$800,000 in punitive damages.