Former captain with Nebraska State Patrol sues, claiming agency retaliated and disobeyed policies

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - A former captain with the Nebraska State Patrol is suing the state, alleging a toxic workplace and retaliation within the patrol.

The lawsuit, filed by Matthew Sutter in mid-September, outlines a story between 2019 and 2022 involving multiple investigations, alleged retaliatory measures and the eventual firing of the captain.

Matthew Sutter was hired by the Nebraska State Patrol in 2007, and he rose the ranks up to captain in 2019. He was tapped to oversee the Professional Standards Division which covered multiple departments, including Internal Affairs. Sutter was tasked with investigations into other members of the state patrol in the position.

Then-Captain Sutter looks into allegations of an inappropriate relationship

Following his promotion to Captain in 2019, Sutter investigated an alleged inappropriate relationship between a major and the patrol’s head legal counsel. The alleged relationship violated the patrol’s policy, and Sutter had concerns it contributed to a death in 2020.

According to the lawsuit, the major had been at a standoff involving Price Zutavern, a man who was experiencing a severe and dangerous mental health crisis. The major contacted the legal counsel for tactical advice, Sutter contends, and it resulted in the lack of a SWAT team being called to the incident. Zutavern eventually fled authorities and was fatally shot by a trooper.

Then-Captain Sutter found the allegation to be unprecedented and a direct violation of the Nebraska State Patrol’s policies. The concerns were brought up to Lt. Col. Andrew Duis, but Sutter’s attorney said the Nebraska State Patrol never investigated them. The major would eventually be forced to resign amid a different scandal involving a trooper’s wife.

The head legal counsel later learned that Sutter had reported her relationship with the major, and the lawsuit claims that she retaliated against him in an arbitration hearing.

Sutter investigates another captain for creating a toxic work environment

Investigations into staff continued into 2020, and one was completed against another captain. A lieutenant was tasked with looking into allegations of a toxic work environment under the captain, including bullying, sexism and racism to both staff and citizens.

At the investigation’s conclusion, the lieutenant found that three of the complaints made against the captain were founded, but Sutter alleges that a major, who was friends with the captain, then dismissed the investigation entirely with disregard to policy.

Sutter expressed his concerns to Col. John Bolduc who claimed the investigation was “overzealous,” according to the lawsuit. Following the dismissal, the lieutenant who headed the investigation was reassigned. Sutter alleges that Bolduc later admitted the captain should have faced consequences in the investigation.

Allegations of misused funds by Carrier Enforcement Division

Sutter would later get caught up in an ongoing investigation from the Carrier Enforcement Division and its captain. Capt. Gerry Krolikowski expressed his concerns about the alleged misuse of funds in the department on multiple occasions in 2019. The misuse likely constituted violations in both policy and state law, according to the lawsuit.

Capt. Krolikowski shared his concerns with staff and Nebraska State Patrol legal counsel. The legal counsel concurred with the captain’s findings, and they worked with the Nebraska Department of Transportation to remediate their concerns.

However, Col. Bolduc shared a different opinion during a meeting in late 2019, according to Sutter’s attorneys. They allege Col. Bolduc said that if the law doesn’t specifically say NSP can’t do something, NSP should do it until they are told they can’t.

The captain later added his concerns about misappropriated funds to his review in 2020, much to the detest of upper management, the filing shows. Col. Bolduc reportedly worried that because Capt. Krolikowski had gotten his concerns in writing, he could be risking his position as superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol.

After the debacle, an investigation was opened into Capt. Krolikowski regarding an employee under his watch who had been suffering from a painkiller addiction. It was alleged that the captain knew about the addiction and did not act.

Capt. Krolikowski was pulled from his position with the Carrier Enforcement Division at the beginning of the investigation. An email had been shared from Lt. Col. Duis with the announcement, and Sutter became alarmed.

He spoke with Lt. Col. Duis to protest the decision, but the lieutenant colonel said that there was no way to restore Capt. Krolikowski’s reputation should the investigation come up clean, according to the filing. Sutter alleges that Lt. Col. Duis went as far as to say, “that investigation is not going to come back unfounded.”

Despite Lt. Col. Duis' reported confidence in the investigation, Capt. Krolikowski was not the employee’s direct supervisor, and Sutter alleges that the supervisor was never interviewed. A lieutenant working with Sutter then both concluded in the investigation that Capt. Krolikowski had done everything he could under the circumstances and engaged in no wrongdoing. But regardless, Capt. Krolikowski was permanently removed from the Carrier Enforcement Division.

According to the lawsuit, Capt. Krolikowski was reassigned to the Process Improvements Division, which had been described as a place where captains are sidelined after crossing management with the Nebraska State Patrol.

Then-Capt. Sutter approached Col. Bolduc to protest the reassignment, but Bolduc argued that Capt. Krolikowski had been holding the division back, the lawsuit claims. Sutter alleges that Bolduc then threatened him with a similar fate.

Sutter reassigned following investigation into Carrier Enforcement Division funds

On Aug. 1, 2020, Sutter was pulled from his position with the Professional Standards Division and reassigned to Troop A in Omaha as its Troop Area Commander. Sutter claims that the reassignment was a direct result of his investigation into the major and head legal counsel’s alleged relationship.

The paperwork for the reassignment classified it as disciplinary, however Lt. Col. Duis claimed it was not disciplinary in nature. Col. Bolduc later confirmed that the documentation should not have been classified as disciplinary, according to the lawsuit.

During his time with Troop A, Sutter raised concerns about understaffing and how it created safety concerns. The concerns were initially denied by high-ranking staff, and a policy revision request was later denied in September of 2020.

Sutter was joined by multiple NSP staff members during a hearing for the policy revision request, including the captain he’d previously investigated for reported bullying, racism and sexism.

The captain became upset during the meeting, and the issue was never rectified, Sutter said.

In late 2020, the captain came to Sutter and asked him to sign off on an investigation into an NSP employee. The captain was trying to write-up an employee he did not supervise nor had he even spoken with, the lawsuit shows. Sutter worked to corroborate the captain’s allegations, but he couldn’t find evidence to substantiate an investigation. He declined the request, angering the captain, Sutter alleges.

Following Sutter’s refusal to launch an investigation, he alleges that upper management kept him out of the loop about a study to relocate the Omaha communications center which began in early January. Sutter contends that the lack of information in the matter was direct retaliation for the investigation into the captain and for his refusal to sign off on his investigation.

Nebraska State Patrol denies pay raise for then-Captain Sutter

Months later in June of 2021, then-Capt. Sutter was up for a pay raise. However, he was denied a two percent pay bump. Upper management cited concerns from Sutter’s performance review in May, but the review contained no alarming information, according to the lawsuit.

Sutter raised the issue with Lt. Col. Duis who overturned the negative evaluation and changed the performance rating to satisfactory. It’s unclear if Sutter received a pay raise following Lt. Col. Duis' intervention, but Sutter alleges that the disagreement was a direct result of his investigations and conflict with high-ranking officials.

Col. Bolduc tapped Sutter to attend the FBI National Academy following his promotion to Lieutenant in 2018. He was placed on a waiting list at the time, but the wait time was extended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Col. Bolduc selected someone else to attend the academy in May of 2022, the lawsuit shows.

Sutter said attending the national academy is an extremely important opportunity in law enforcement, and he spoke with Col. Bolduc as to why he’d been passed up for the honor. The lawsuit shows that Bolduc responded by saying Sutter’s performance hadn’t matched his capabilities.

Upset, then-Capt. Sutter pressed his experience and the previous conflicts he’d had with upper-management — claiming it wouldn’t be too hard to prove “punitive damages.” The threat of legal repercussions angered Bolduc as he told Sutter to “bring it on” while questioning his decision making, the lawsuit shows.

Investigations into Sutter begin

Sutter was then informed that he was the subject of an administrative investigation a short time after his confrontation with Bolduc. He was accused of conduct unbecoming, violating the Public Information and Community Relations rules, and Information Technology and Enterprises Acceptable Use rule.

The former captain’s attorney says the charges were poorly levied or outright unfounded, alleging a lack of evidence or evidence with little weight. The Nebraska State Patrol used the charges as an opportunity to search through Sutter’s phone, computer records and personal email, according to the lawsuit.

Then-Capt. Sutter confronted Lt. Col. Duis about the charges, but his concerns went unheard, according to the lawsuit. Sutter alleged the charges were brought without the proper interviews and evidence collection mandated by the Nebraska State Patrol’s policies.

In the middle of its investigation, Sutter said that the Nebraska State Patrol began to apply rules from the State Law Enforcement Bargaining Council Contract to his disciplinary process. However, captains are subject to Title 273 under state law, not the contract, according to the lawsuit. He alleges that the Nebraska State Patrol violated his due process under both sets of rules and that he was never informed of the change in rules.

He also alleges that the Nebraska State Patrol did not provide him with information of the investigation sufficient to develop a quality defense as required by Title 273 and the patrol’s policies.

Nebraska State Patrol makes serious allegation against Sutter

Ultimately, the Nebraska State Patrol accused Sutter of leaking confidential information to the press. Sutter asserts that the information he provided had already been provided to the public, and that the initial investigation had nothing to do with the charge he eventually received. He was fired from the Nebraska State Patrol on Nov. 11, 2022.

At a hearing with the Nebraska State Personnel Board in November of 2023, board members affirmed Sutter’s termination after reviewing evidence of a confidential information leak. According to the board, Sutter provided sensitive information to a then-reporter with KMTV in Omaha.

The information regarded then-President Donald Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence’s trips to Nebraska in 2019, the arrival of coronavirus patients to Eppley Airfield and an incident involving a barricaded suspect. The board tossed out several other accusations made against Sutter, saying they were unsubstantiated.

Text messages between the reporter and Sutter were examined, and the board said that Sutter sent texts to the reporter saying, “don’t burn your source” and “keep it on the DL.” Board members found this to be evidence that Sutter recognized he was providing information that he shouldn’t, and the filing shows that Sutter admitted to making an error in sharing information about the President and Vice Presidents' trips.

It also shows that the Nebraska State Patrol violated its Standard Operating Protocol in its investigation of Sutter, however, the egregious nature of Sutter’s alleged behavior gave greater alarm to the board. The board also said that Sutter was given his case file and an opportunity to respond to his allegations, although Sutter’s lawsuit claims this report is untrue.

Sutter claims that the information provided to the reporter was publicly available, either through radio communications or press releases. He also tried to argue that retaliation had been an impetus in the investigation. The board disagreed, and reaffirmed his termination.

Following Sutter’s lawsuit being filed, Col. Bolduc with the Nebraska State Patrol provided this statement to 10/11 News:

“It wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on pending litigation, but generally speaking, law-enforcement personnel, especially in leadership positions, are trusted with sensitive and confidential information. Releasing that information publicly has the potential to create dangerous situations for our fellow law enforcement officers, high-ranking officials, and the people we are sworn to protect. We must hold ourselves to a high standard when entrusted with that sensitive information and NSP will continue to do that.”

In the lawsuit, Sutter alleges that other high-ranking officials had leaked information of a similar caliber but underwent no investigation or suffered lesser consequences. He also claims that several other captains have faced retaliation from upper management.

Sutter’s attorneys argue the former-captain engaged in protected activities through his investigations involving allegedly unethical and unlawful activities. They express concerns that the reportedly hostile work environment could dissuade others from reporting unethical or unlawful behaviors.

The lawsuit even claims that official misconduct may have been committed by some high-ranking officials, a class II misdemeanor. It then alleges high-ranking officials violated the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act.

Sutter’s attorneys are requesting a jury trial over the matter with the hopes of winning compensatory relief, or even reinstatement, for Sutter. A future court date has yet to be set in the matter.

Attorney Kelly Brandon, who’s representing Sutter in the case, provided the following statement praising the former-captain’s courage in pressing the lawsuit:

“Matthew Sutter spent most of his professional life serving the public as an officer with the Nebraska State Patrol dedicated to doing the right thing. The complaint we filed speaks for itself in terms of his allegations. His courage is admirable, and we are very proud to represent him. Matt is hopeful this lawsuit will result in a better and more ethical State Patrol, recommitted to its duty to serve the public.”

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