By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
LAMBERTVILLE — A fired Lambertville police sergeant won’t be back on the job anytime soon despite a recent court ruling to the contrary.
The city has won a stay from the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division.
The stay means Lambertville does not have to bring Sgt. 1st Class Michael O’Rourke back to the force or pay him his salary and back wages as an appellate court had earlier ruled.
The stay, which the court granted Nov. 14, will remain in effect until the New Jersey Supreme Court decides whether to hear the city’s case, and longer if the Supreme Court actually takes it on.
Lambertville’s mayor and City Council fired Sgt. O’Rourke after an administrative hearing that stretched over several months in early 2007. They found him guilty of a handful of charges, including disobeying the direct order of a superior.
The case has pitted Sgt. O’Rourke, the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the department, against his boss, civilian Police Director Bruce Cocuzza.
Sgt. O’Rourke had been on the Lambertville force for 17 years in 2006 when the dispute arose.
He wanted to conduct background checks on the department’s civilian employees as he maintained he was authorized to do. He contended the checks were necessary to protect the department’s access to electronic criminal databases.
Mr. Cocuzza, a retired New York City Police captain, ordered Sgt. O’Rourke to hold off until he could consult with state police or the city’s attorney.
On a day when Mr. Cocuzza was sick and out of the office, Sgt. O’Rourke conducted the checks on five civilian employees, including Mr. Cocuzza. He ran checks in five regions of a database on Mr. Cocuzza and in one region for the other employees.
Fired by the city in April 2007, Sgt. O’Rourke won reinstatement, back pay and legal fees in a ruling rendered by a state Superior Court judge. The city then won a stay of the order while it appealed the decision.
A three-judge panel on Oct. 31 upheld the Superior Court ruling.

