Judge Declines To Block Boston From Firing Police Commissioner Dennis White

A Suffolk Superior Court Judge Tuesday denied Boston Police Commissioner Dennis White’s motion for an injunction that would block his firing over 22-year-old allegations of domestic abuse.

White, who has been on administrative leave since two days after his February appointment by former Mayor Marty Walsh, filed his motion earlier this month after acting Mayor Kim Janey released a scathing independent investigation into the decades-old domestic violence allegations and notified him of his pending removal.

White and his eldest daughter maintain that the allegations brought by his ex-wife are false.

White sought a court hearing to clear his name. He also claimed Boston lacked cause to remove him.

As long as the city provided White an opportunity to be heard, Janey's legal team argued, it is within her authority to remove him.

In an 8-page ruling, Justice Heidi Brieger sided with the city, saying White’s legal team failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success against the city.

White's key contention was that removal could only be done in a proceeding presided over by a judge. White also argued that Janey's release of the investigator's report damaged his reputation in a way that could only be repaired by a judicial proceeding.

“Had the Legislature desired a tribunal to be convened in advance of the removal of the police commissioner, it could have so provided,” Brieger wrote.

In other words, the state legislature has left the power to remove a police commissioner with the mayor.

White’s attorney Nicholas Carter responded to the ruling late Tuesday, saying “Commissioner White respects the court, and will be exercising his right of appeal.”

White’s team has already sent a letter to Janey demanding a public hearing.

Janey responded to the ruling with confidence: “I applaud Judge Brieger’s ruling to deny this motion and will inform Dennis White of his rescheduled Zoom hearing. It is time to move our City and the Boston Police Department forward.”

According to Boston's lawyer, White will face no irreparable harm because if he is removed without just cause he can turn around and sue the city for damages.

Judge Brieger agreed with the city.

“If the Commissioner’s removal is upon review found to be defective in some fashion, for example, if there was no meaningful hearing or there was insufficient cause, he can be compensated with money damages for any lost earnings," the judge wrote.

While the court ruling appears to clear the way for Janey to proceed with the next steps in firing White, it leaves unanswered the hot political question of whether Walsh knew of the abuse allegations when he named White commissioner, as White and retired commissioner William Gross have testified.

Walsh is adamant that he did not.

Speaking on GBH News last week, District Attorney Rachael Rollins said that since White swore under oath that Walsh knew, she had to believe the embattled commissioner.