Lawsuit claims PA. leaked questionable personnel info to help re-election of Friend of Tom

[JPZenger]

http://articles.mcall.com/2012-03-30/news/mc-lehigh-koren-state-police-lawsuit-20120330_1_pennsylvania-state-police-honorable-discharge-edward-koren

"A former state trooper who challenged Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin in last year's election has sued state police officials, alleging they provided false information about his employment history to The Morning Call. Edward Koren lost his bid to defeat three-term incumbent Martin in a race that became heated over Koren's discharge from the state police.

When Koren retired from the state police in 2005 after a 25-year career, he did not receive an honorable discharge. A state police spokeswoman said in October a "vast majority" of troopers receive that accolade when they "did not engage in serious misconduct while employed" by state police.

In a federal lawsuit filed Friday that names state police Commissioner Frank Noonan and spokeswoman Maria Finn as defendants, Koren alleges Noonan and Finn provided false information to the newspaper in an effort to support Martin's campaign and retaliate against Koren for running for office. Koren's suit notes that Noonan is a political appointee of Gov. Tom Corbett, who is a close friend and political ally of Martin. Corbett and Martin are Republicans. The lawsuit says Koren never engaged in serious misconduct and was never disciplined by Pennsylvania State Police. Koren alleges that when he retired from the state police after serving as commander of the Fogelsville barracks, honorable discharges were awarded arbitrarily with no connection to the trooper's performance.

As a result of "patently and demonstrably false" statements by Finn on Noonan's behalf, Koren lost the election and was denied the opportunity to serve as district attorney, the lawsuit says."