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Whistle-blower constable faces blowback lawsuit
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A Carnegie company has sued a constable who publicly questioned its handling of security in Pittsburgh Housing Authority communities.
Victory Security Agency wrote in the lawsuit that until May 1 it employed constable Brian Van Dusen of the Hill District. He worked under its contract to provide armed, off-duty constables to patrol seven authority developments.
On April 25, the complaint said, he submitted a report of his daily activities saying that he was at the authority's Northview Heights property, but another Victory employee said he was not. Victory then fired him, the complaint said.
In late May, Mr. Van Dusen showed the Post-Gazette and KDKA-TV electronic documents filed by other constables detailing daily activities, but apparently completed and sent in hours before the ends of their eight-hour shifts. His accusations spurred an ongoing authority investigation of the Victory contract.
Victory's complaint against Mr. Van Dusen, which was served this week, said that in revealing its activity reports, he misappropriated its trade secrets and property and breached a duty of loyalty. It said that as a result, Victory has lost money.
The authority pays $30.44 an hour for each constable, which is expected to total $1.23 million over the first year.
Attorneys for Victory and for Mr. Van Dusen could not be reached for comment.
First Published July 12, 2012 12:00 am
