Former Policy Analyst Sues NYC Council Over Firing
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A former policy analyst for the New York City Council says he was fired for publicly questioning data in a report represented by the police commissioner at a public hearing.
Artyom Matusov filed a federal lawsuit against the council and its speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, on Wednesday.
Former Policy Analyst Sues NYC Council Over Firing
According to The New York Times, Matusov's lawyer, Norman Siegel, called it "a classic free-speech case."
Siegel said "the question is why was he fired and who approved the firing."
In a statement, a council spokeswoman said the claims had "absolutely no merit."
Matusov was fired in September after contacting reporters claiming that NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton had given misleading testimony at a council hearing, WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported.
Bratton had pointed to a decrease in police shootings and violence in New York City since 1990. Matusov said the decrease in police killings was a result of an overall drop in crime, not a sign that police officers had began to act in a more civil manner.
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