A Footnote To "officer Says He Resigned Due To Religious Discrimination"

[Scott Lloyd]

The Sutherland Institute website shows Eric Moutsos as its "Manager of Development."

http://sutherlandinstitute.org/about/our-staff/

So he's made a job change since February, when the other thread was going. Looks like he has landed on his feet after the SLPD episode last year. Good for him!

[Kenngo1969]

Are you acquainted with the other thread? Moutsos didn't refuse to obey an order. He arranged with another officer to trade shifts and asked the chief to OK it. He even said he would go ahead and do the motorcycle maneuvers if no one else was availabile to do it. Burbank had a meltdown because Moutsos even raised the issue in the first place, summarily suspended Moutsos and launched an internal affairs investigation pursuant to his dismissal. Then, the SLPD put out a false story about an officer's failure to obey an order. Moutsos denied this, and in subsequent public statements, Burbank never sustained the earlier statement from the SLPD.

All this was hashed out in the prior thread.

I don't agree that Burbank was placed in a difficult spot. He could have quietly approved the shift trade without the matter ever having been made public. Or he could have simply denied the request. Moutsos apparently would have complied.

I confess, I haven't yet waded through all twenty pages .  But I am more acquainted with that thread than I was when I wrote that.  If what has been reported is accurate and has been accurately characterized, I don't necessarily support Burbank's handling of the Moutsos matter.  That said, while perhaps he simply didn't have the stomach for such a battle, if I were Moutsos and if someone had publicly mischaracterized my actions and views the way Burbank apparently/allegedly has, I would fight as long and as hard as necessary for an official determination supporting my take and clearing my name.

[sethpayne]

So he's made a job change since February, when the other thread was going. Looks like he has landed on his feet after the SLPD episode last year. Good for him!

 

Hey Scott, did you ever find out why the DN didn't look into why this officer took no remedial action using one of the several appeal options listed in his union contract?

[Okrahomer]

Hey Scott, did you ever find out why the DN didn't look into why this officer took no remedial action using one of the several appeal options listed in his union contract?

It sounds like he is just "done" with it and wants to move on:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/27/policeman-claiming-he-was-forced-out-over-lgbt-controversy-mulls-lawsuit/

"Moutsos has an attorney and is mulling a lawsuit, but he is reluctant. Though he believes he was discriminated against for his religious beliefs, he fears such a suit “could really affect [his] life for the next several years.” He shares, though, the incident occupies his thoughts every day and that he has not been able to sleep."

[Scott Lloyd]

It sounds like he is just "done" with it and wants to move on:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/27/policeman-claiming-he-was-forced-out-over-lgbt-controversy-mulls-lawsuit/

"Moutsos has an attorney and is mulling a lawsuit, but he is reluctant. Though he believes he was discriminated against for his religious beliefs, he fears such a suit “could really affect [his] life for the next several years.” He shares, though, the incident occupies his thoughts every day and that he has not been able to sleep."

According to what he told KSL, he feels that through his new position with Sutherland he has found a way to make a difference not just for himself and his family but for others as well. Clearly, for Moutsos, the SLPD episode is ancient history now.

[Scott Lloyd]

Hey Scott, did you ever find out why the DN didn't look into why this officer took no remedial action using one of the several appeal options listed in his union contract?

I've never been in the loop on reporting of the Moutsos affair, but I think it obvious he had no desire to remain in what he saw as a hostile work environment.

[Russell C McGregor]

Very well reasoned.

I should clarify though that the police chief's name is Burbank. Moutsos is the officer whom Burbank dismissed for requesting permission to trade shifts with another officer so as not to have to be part of the entertainment in the gay pride parade.

Edited to add: In the interest of accuracy I should add that Burbank technically did not dismiss Moutsos but made conditions so intolerable (immediate suspension, internal affairs investigation) that Moutsos felt obliged to resign.

Thus enabling those who wish to maintain the fiction that no-one has ever suffered any negative consequences for failing to be 110% enthusiastic about the "gay" jihad, to claim that he merely "chose to resign."

A claim that is quite transparently dishonest, given the fact that he was clearly forced out of his job.

 

Godwin's Law offense, poster removed.

[Russell C McGregor]

I am just providing a footnote, that being, making note of Scott's personal attacks on the Police Chief in the other thread.

CFR that Scott made "personal attacks on the Police Chief in the other thread."

And a link to the whole other thread will not suffice. I'll accept a link to an actual post that contains actual personal attacks.

Thanks.

[Scott Lloyd]

I confess, I haven't yet waded through all twenty pages .  But I am more acquainted with that thread than I was when I wrote that.  If what has been reported is accurate and has been accurately characterized, I don't necessarily support Burbank's handling of the Moutsos matter.  That said, while perhaps he simply didn't have the stomach for such a battle, if I were Moutsos and if someone had publicly mischaracterized my actions and views the way Burbank apparently/allegedly has, I would fight as long and as hard as necessary for an official determination supporting my take and clearing my name.

I think the way Moutsos handled the matter was very shrewd. After he had found another job in law enforcement and was thus less vulnerable, was back on his feet, so to speak, he was in a better position to publicly and effectively deny the falsehood that had been put out about him (albeit without using his name). This he did, boldly, clearly, and in a gentlemanly and civil manner. I think he has set the record straight and is now in a position to put the whole episode behind him with the exception that it has been a catalyst for his being offered and accepting his new position with the Sutherland Institute. As he apparently sees it, that new appointment puts him in a position to aid others who might find themselves in similar circumstances to what he faced, that is, a violation of their religious liberty.

 

As for there being "an official determination supporting [his] take and clearing [his] name," that could be scarcely more than a symbolic gesture at this point. But with the termination of Burbank, perhaps there is a greater likelihood of that happening now. Whether or not Moutsos is apt to pursue it is anybody's guess. But I doubt he would be going back to work for SLPD, in any event, or that he even desires to at this point.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Scott Lloyd