NJ appeals court upholds police chief’s firing over homophobic slur

The appellate ruling reverses a state commission’s decision to reinstate Stacey Williams with back pay.

A Union County police chief who was fired after a gay officer overheard him using a homophobic slur should not be reinstated despite the Civil Service Commission’s recommendation that he be suspended instead, an appeals court has ruled.

Stacey Williams, the former chief of the Roselle Police Department, allegedly used the word “fa—t” in reference to a close friend during an on-duty conversation with other officers in October 2022.

Several officers complained about his comments, including Lt. Delmonte Pryor, an openly gay officer, and Capt. Helder Freire. But Williams remained unapologetic, brushing off his statement as a joke.

Borough officials eventually charged Williams with several administrative violations, including conduct unbecoming a public employee, neglect of duty, discrimination, conduct subversive of good order and discipline of the department, and using rude or insulting language.

The borough fired Williams in July 2024. But he appealed to the state Civil Service Commission, which ruled in June 2025 that despite his “abhorrent, inappropriate, and offensive” conduct, he should not be removed from his $210,000 job as the town’s top cop.

Instead, the commission imposed a 30-day suspension, which officials believed would impress upon Williams the gravity of his actions.

The borough appealed, and two appellate court judges heard the case in September.

Earlier this month, the judges ruled that Roselle was well within its rights to fire Williams, adding that the commission’s ruling had been “arbitrary and capricious and lacking support in the record.”

Reinstating him, the judges wrote, would undermine the department’s interest in maintaining safety, discipline, order and morale within its ranks, as well as its mission to retain the public’s trust and confidence.

“Under all the circumstances … we are shocked by the imposition of a thirty-day suspension,” the judges wrote. “Williams discredited himself and the borough and negatively impacted the public’s respect and confidence in the [Roselle Police Department].”

Patrick Toscano, Williams’s attorney, did not respond to a Vindicator request for comment. Neither did Roselle Mayor Donald Shaw or any members of the Borough Council.

‘It’s a laugh, it’s a joke’

The appellate ruling said Roselle fired Williams after the Union County Prosecutor’s Office sustained the allegations against him.

When Williams appealed to the Civil Service Commission, the agency sent his case to the state’s Office of Administrative Law, which employs independent administrative law judges to hear cases.

During the proceedings, the borough presented six witnesses. Williams presented two.

Freire, the police captain, testified that he confronted Williams about his use of the slur after the chief said it.

Williams responded by saying that if Pryor, the gay officer, “wanted to make a big deal about it, Williams would make a big deal about all the time Pryor talked about sucking d—k,” according to court documents.

Roselle Police Capt. William Lord also testified, recalling Williams referring to several officers as a “bunch of f-gs” on another occasion because they fell ill at the sight of a badly decomposed corpse, according to court documents.

The comments made Lord so uncomfortable that he left the area. The captain also testified that he never heard Pryor discuss his sex life at work.

Williams’ attorney called Roselle Councilwoman Cynthia Johnson to the stand, and she testified that she’d never heard him call anyone the f-word. She also said she didn’t believe the word was a homophobic slur and testified that she’d called her gay niece a “dyke.”

Johnson, who added that she has been censured by the mayor and council, did not respond to a request for comment.

During his testimony, Williams didn’t deny that he’d used the terms in the workplace.

“It’s possible, absolutely,” Williams said, adding that he didn’t think Pryor was around when he said it.

He also never denied using the term regarding the officers who were sickened by the sight of the body.

At one point, Toscano asked what Williams meant when he said the f-word.

“It’s a laugh, it’s a joke,” Williams said, according to court documents. “It’s not intended in any homosexual manner. It isn’t intended to be harmful.”

He never apologized to Pryor for using the slur and maintained that the borough’s witnesses lied in their testimony to both the internal affairs investigator and the administrative law judge.

The administrative law judge found Williams’s use of the word “was neither discriminatory nor targeted toward another officer or other specific individual in such a manner exhibiting homophobia or disapproval of those who identify as homosexual.”

The appropriate discipline, the judge said, was a 30-day suspension. The Civil Service Commission ordered Williams reinstated with back pay, benefits and seniority.

In its appeal, the borough argued that the commission erred when it dismissed one of the workplace discrimination charges and said it had acted “arbitrarily and unreasonably” when it imposed a suspension instead of termination.

The appeals court agreed that the charge had been appropriately dismissed but said the dismissal should not have influenced the recommended penalty.

The court also said the state Supreme Court has held that progressive discipline isn’t necessary when the misconduct is severe, unbecoming to the employee’s position, renders the employee unsuitable for that position or hurts the public interest.

The commission had said Williams’s language was abhorrent but not egregious enough to warrant his removal. The court said it couldn’t tell the difference between the abhorrent language and egregious misconduct.

“Some infractions are so serious that removal is appropriate despite an untarnished record,” the ruling said.