Aliquippa police chief Donald Couch has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, alleging a nearly 2-year-long suspension from the department has amounted to a violation of his constitutional rights.
Donald Couch says he was not given any rationale when placed on administrative leave by the city council in June 2018. He remains off-duty with his career in limbo.
“On June 6, 2018, during a public Council meeting, (the City of Aliquippa) announced that it was placing Couch on paid administrative leave of absence,” states the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “It appeared that virtually everyone in attendance at the meeting, including the media, knew in advance that (the city) was taking such action.”