In a 4-0 vote, the Southampton Town Board on Friday suspended Lt. James Kiernan for 38 days without pay for a personnel mater that the town will not disclose.
The suspension is through June 12, the date of the board's first public meeting in June, when, according to Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, the suspension may expire or some sort of permanent action will be taken.
The resolution suspending Kiernan states that he will have the opportunity to use accumulated personal, vacation and compensatory leave time to stay on the payroll during his suspension.
She said the next step, in the customary process, is for the discipline to enter hearing and arbitration.
The vote was held during a special Town Board meeting late Friday afternoon that was announced via email 15 minutes before it was to begin. Councilman Chris Nuzzi was absent during the vote.
The board met earlier in the day in a closed-door session with Police Chief William Wilson, who recommended that disciplinary action be taken.
Wilson had in April.
Town Board members said they could not discuss the reasons for the suspension in public, because it is a personnel matter.
According to Town Board resolutions and minutes, Kiernan became a police officer in 1997 and was promoted to sergeant in 2005. He was at a Town Board meeting on Oct. 11, 2011.
