Officer Sues Police Chief in Pay Dispute : Courts: Huntington lawman wants compensation for time he spent fighting disciplinary action that ultimately was dismissed.

A Huntington Beach police officer took an unusual approach to settling a beef with his boss: He took Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg to small claims court.

In dispute is about $750 that Officer William Murphy says he is owed by the department for time he spent fighting a disciplinary action that ultimately was dismissed. He also wants about $400 in interest on the back pay that the department was required to give him.

“It’s miserable to have to go this far,” said the 15-year police veteran.

In Municipal Court in Westminster Wednesday, Lowenberg and the city’s risk manager, Karen Foster, argued that the police chief owes Murphy nothing.

They said the officer is not entitled to compensation for the three days he spent in the disciplinary hearing, because the hearing did not occur during Murphy’s normal work shift, which is at night, and attending it instead of working the night shift was Murphy’s choice. They also claimed the officer ought to have exhausted established grievance procedures before taking his case to a judge.

Judge Thomas J. Borris took the arguments under submission and is expected to issue a decision in seven to 10 days. But he indicated he could not find Lowenberg personally liable in the case unless Murphy could prove the chief acted in bad faith.

Murphy, for his part, said he tried everything else he could think of before going to court. He said he tried to make appointments with Lowenberg four times to discuss the matter but was rebuffed. He also was denied reimbursement by the city’s personnel director, he said.

Murphy said that other officers who work day shifts get paid for attending disciplinary hearings, and he ought to get the same treatment.

The complaint stems from a 1993 disciplinary action against Murphy, who was accused, among other things, of using excessive force during an arrest of a 22-year-old who had been involved in a police chase during which shots were fired.

Murphy said he had hit a suspect twice in the head with the butt of his shotgun, first when the suspect was trying to throw another officer off his back and again when the suspect reached for his waistband. Murphy said he didn’t know at the time whether the suspect was armed, although it was later determined that he was not.

An arbitrator overturned Murphy’s one-month suspension and ordered the city to reimburse him for lost wages, Murphy said. In response, he said, the city paid him $5,000, but not the 10 months of interest he believes he is owed.

The officer said more than 100 other officers have complaints against the chief--mostly related to denial of time off--that they either have filed or plan to file in small claims court. He said he learned of the plans during a police officers association meeting.

Foster said the city had been served with no other small-claims actions similar to Murphy’s.

Senior Officer Richard Wright, president of the Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn., said Wednesday night that there is a plan to initiate more than 20 small claims cases against Lowenberg. He confirmed that most related to the denial of officers’ requests to use accumulated time off, stressing that they were entirely unrelated to Murphy’s action.