a police chief used an anti-gay slur at work and got a 30-day suspension. two judges said they were "shocked" and gave him his firing back.

via the Appellate Division's opinion and RLS Media

"It's a laugh. It's a joke." That was Roselle police chief Stacey Williams, under oath, explaining an anti-gay slur, according to the court's opinion. On Friday it stopped being funny for him.

A two-judge panel of New Jersey's Appellate Division, Judges Currier and Puglisi, ruled on Oct. 9 that the Borough of Roselle could fire him after all. The opinion says Williams used the slur while telling other officers a story about a friend, and that an openly gay lieutenant, Delmonte Pryor, overheard it. A captain testified that Williams had also once called officers who felt sick at a decomposing body a slur. Williams said of the first incident, "It's possible, absolutely," and he "did not apologize to Pryor," the opinion says.

what the appeals court ruled

An administrative law judge had found the word "was not used as a pejorative term and was not directed at any individual." The Civil Service Commission called it "abhorrent" but not enough to fire him, and gave him a 30-working-day suspension with back pay. He went back to work in June.

The panel was not having it. "Whether Williams intended to offend Pryor or any other officer is of no import," it wrote. "We cannot discern the difference between abhorrent language and egregious misconduct." And: "we are shocked by the imposition of a thirty-day suspension." It reinstated his removal. The ruling is unpublished, so it binds only this case.

Mayor Donald Shaw called it "a victory for accountability and professionalism," per RLS Media, which reports, citing the borough, that Williams was removed from duty Friday. We could not find a comment from Williams or his lawyer.

The lesson for anyone with a badge: "it was a joke" is a defense of the joke, not of the man telling it, and the lieutenant in the room is not the punchline.