Representing a police officer from the Town of Arlington, Attorney Nolan was able to discredit the reasons offered by the Town in justification for bypassing our client for promotion.  Through effective cross-examination of the police Chief, and through extensive review of Town documents, it was brought to light that the Town's allegations of past discipline were either unproven, or were in several instances resolved in favor of our client.

Attorney Nolan was able to show that our client was cleared of the charges prior to the Town using them as reasons for bypass.  In his decision, Commission Chairman Bowman wrote that he was troubled by the Town's inclusion of such charges in its bypass reasons, and for its failure to notify the Commonwealth that the appellant was cleared of the charges.

Another important ruling in the case was the admonishment of the Town for its failure to at all consider the difference in Civil Service exam scores between our client, who was first on the promotion list, and the next two candidates.  The Commission sent a clear message that the exam scores cannot be ignored in the promotion process.

This decision is important to all of those officers who spend a great deal of time and money on exam preparation, and have seen many cases where their scores have no relation to their ability to be promoted.

The decision is published on the Civil Service Commission website, and can be viewed by clicking on the link below.