Ex-Officer’s Suit Claims Wrongful Termination : CHP: He says he was fired from his Altadena job after reporting to supervisors what he considered unethical ticketing practices by his training officer.

A former California Highway Patrol officer, dismissed from his Altadena job two years ago, has filed a lawsuit in Pasadena Superior Court against the state agency, claiming he was fired after he refused to follow what he believed were unfair methods for ticketing speeding motorists.

Rusty Thomsen, 34, of Merced, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in December in Pasadena Superior Court against the State of California, the Highway Patrol and its administrators and 17 CHP officers and supervisors.

Thomsen said he was fired after 13 months on the job when he refused to follow a training officer’s instructions to ignore drivers in “dirt bag” cars and instead stop mostly drivers in late-model, well-maintained cars along the “Pasadena alley,” a stretch of the Foothill (210) Freeway through Pasadena. Thomsen said he reported to supervisors what he considered unethical behavior by the training officer and was subsequently given bad performance ratings and fired.

“In Rusty’s case, it was retaliation,” said Thomsen’s attorney, Michael Sloan of Pasadena. “His code of ethics conflicted with the code of silence of the California Highway Patrol.”

But Capt. Robert Caldwell, commander of the Altadena station where Thomsen worked, denied any wrongdoing or retaliation. Instead, Caldwell said Thomsen did not measure up as a traffic officer, despite extended training periods.

“He’s arrogant,” Caldwell said. “He doesn’t listen and he thinks the training officers are not up to his standards.”

Thomsen, a former Marine helicopter pilot, joined the Highway Patrol in 1992. After completing the CHP academy as a cadet, he began a one-year probationary stint at the Altadena station. During further training on the job, Thomsen said he was instructed by one training officer to avoid stopping drivers in “dirt bag,” rundown cars and to avoid vehicles whose passengers appeared to be gang members or minorities.

The reason, Thomsen said he was told, was that drivers of such cars might have unlicensed cars, warrants for their arrest or outstanding traffic violations. A traffic officer might have to spend an hour calling for a tow truck, taking the driver into custody and filling out paperwork.

Instead, Thomsen said he was instructed to ticket drivers in well-maintained cars whose traffic stops would take only 10 minutes.

When Thomsen reported such behavior to his superiors, he said his work was suddenly found unsatisfactory and negative performance reports were logged against him. He now works as a substitute teacher in Merced.

But Caldwell said a civil service hearing on the matter did not support Thomsen’s claims.

The legal action is one of two still-pending lawsuits recently filed against the CHP by valley officers.

In August, John A. Meaders, 44, a 14-year veteran traffic officer currently stationed in Baldwin Park, filed a discrimination lawsuit in Pasadena Superior Court against the Highway Patrol and officers at the Altadena and Baldwin Park stations. Meaders accused the agency of allowing supervisors to use racial slurs and make racial jokes in his presence.

But Caldwell said Meaders’ claim was also found to be groundless after a hearing by the state Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.