A former trooper fired last month for reasons the Highway Patrol won't explain says in court papers that he lost his job for having an extramarital affair and failing to respond when his paramour was allegedly attacked by her estranged husband.
In administrative court papers filed late Thursday, Anthony Scott says he should be disciplined but not fired. He denies neglecting his duties when he was at the home of Pittsboro attorney Jennifer Andrews on Aug. 14.
Scott contends N.C. Crime Control Secretary Reuben Young's decision to dismiss him was excessive. Scott cites the discipline given to Commander Randy Glover 23 years ago when he was a young trooper as an example of unequal treatment.
The patrol and Young have never explained the circumstances behind Scott's firing, calling it a personnel matter. Scott's filing provides details of several claims he said the patrol made against him that have never been officially acknowledged.
Patrol officials Friday declined to comment on Scott's filing.
In the court papers, Scott said he visited Jennifer Andrews' home because the attorney was helping him with legal work connected with his separation from his wife. He acknowledged that he was on duty the morning he visited to pick up a separation agreement prepared by Andrews. In his filing, Scott confirmed that he and Andrews began a "deeply loving relationship" in June that became sexual by month's end.
Trooper's version
He said he was at the home when Jennifer Andrews' husband, Eric Andrews, unexpectedly drove up with the couple's children in his car.
Scott, 39, said he "prudently left the house through the back door and walked a distance away to avoid being observed by Mr. Andrews."
Jennifer Andrews subsequently alleged that her husband threatened her with a gun and assaulted her, accusing her of having an affair with Scott. Eric Andrews, 41, a prominent real estate agent, is facing kidnapping and assault charges.
Scott said he did not witness the alleged attack. Eric Andrews left the home after seeing Scott's patrol car in the garage.
Scott said he heard the sound of a car leaving and returned to the house, where he saw Jennifer Andrews "in her condition of stress and physical injury." By then she had called 911 and her father, who is a former assistant fire chief in Chapel Hill.
Three days later, the patrol accused him of having an off-duty extramarital affair. A subsequent internal investigation also accused him of neglect of duty over the Aug. 14 incident, continuing to have contact with Jennifer Andrews while the internal investigation was being conducted, failing to activate his patrol car video camera from June 30 to Aug. 15, and using the patrol's communications network to obtain a criminal and driving record history at Jennifer Andrews' request.
The driving history pertained to an unidentified person who had crashed his vehicle. He was only identified as a homeowner within Pittsboro's Chapel Ridge neighborhood.
Scott was originally demoted and reassigned to the Charlotte office by Glover. Scott, a 16-year veteran, said he accepted the demotion but appealed the transfer to be closer to his children.
Troubles compound
Before Young heard Scott's appeal, Scott had again run afoul of the patrol. Scott was with Jennifer Andrews on Dec. 23, when she delivered the Andrews' two children to a therapist's office for a session between them and Eric Andrews.
A Chapel Hill police officer was on hand to provide security, and when he saw Scott, he told a supervisor, who then contacted the patrol.
That prompted another complaint, that Scott "used poor judgment and put himself, Mrs. Andrews, and the two minor children in a potentially volatile situation."
On Feb. 5, Scott sought to resign under duress, contending that his supervisors' conduct was unlawful, corrupt and unethical. Young did not accept the resignation and fired Scott four days later.
Scott said his punishment was "grossly out of proportion to discipline entered in similar or more egregious cases."
Among them, he said, was Glover's transfer from a Harnett County office to New Bern in 1987 for having an affair with a Harnett County dispatcher. Scott noted that Glover "was still promoted to the highest rank in the patrol" and that Gov. Bev. Perdue defended the promotion by saying a trooper's sexual preference, sexual orientation and past marital history have nothing to do with the "job they could do for the people of North Carolina."
