An offensive state email and a call for an investigation

An email sent with offensive words about Jewish people in the subject line continues to roil the upper ranks of the Connecticut State Police. The law enforcement agency said it has asked for an independent investigator to conduct an inquiry after failing to perform a professional internal investigation into allegations of antisemitism and racism.

In May, a veteran civilian bureaucrat sent the offensive email — inadvertently because of an autocorrect error, he says. Lt. Adam Rosenberg saw the email that contained the words “inbred Jews” in the subject line and attempted to share his alarm with others in the Department of Safety and Public Protection. A frustrating odyssey for action followed — and continues.

The email was first reported on my website, DailyRuctions. com, on May 6. In response to my inquiry, Brian Foley, a top aide to DESPP Commissioner James Rovella, wrote on May 5 that the executive assistant who wrote the email intended to write “Interviews” in the subject line of an email about upcoming job interviews in the agency. When a recipient notified the executive assistant of the language, Foley wrote in a text message, “the exec assistant immediately said it must have been an auto-correct and apologized by phone and email to both recipients.”

Rosenberg, a retired Navy reserves lieutenant and 15-year member of the state police force, is Jewish. He saw the offensive phrase and sought to discuss it within the agency without success. One human resources employee Rosenberg contacted to discuss filing a complaint hung up on him, according to the complaint Rosenberg did file. The email, Rosenberg wrote in his complaint, of which I obtained a copy, “has been known for 24 hours and NO ONE even wants to talk about or ADDRESS this.”

Rosenberg oversees Troop K in Colchester and also is assigned payroll and overtime duties in the agency’s headquarters. He is required to have frequent contact with the executive assistant, whose wide portfolio includes

IT, payroll and human resources. Rosenberg and the executive assistant, it’s clear from the lieutenant’s complaint, have clashed in the past.

The agency conducted an internal investigation of the email, but it fell short of its own professional standards, according to Foley, who will leave DESPP this week to become Tolland’s town manager. Rovella appears to have concluded an independent entity should conduct a serious investigation. The new investigator will be retained through the state Department of Administrative Services.

The investigations of the email and Rosenberg’s complaint are open and are confidential. The scope of the investigation that has apparently been assigned to an outside party is secret, because DAS says “this remains a pending matter,” and no information would be available until it is closed. Who is conducting the investigation is also a state secret, so is the date by which the probe is to be completed.

Rosenberg contacted numerous state officials about the email that contained the reference to Jews in the subject line and received no responses. Only U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal offered some help. He referred Rosenberg to the Anti Defamation League, an organization that fights antisemitism. Rosenberg says he has been cautioned within the agency to say little.

Since learning of the offensive email, I have attempted many misspellings of “Interviews” on the email application of several devices. My autocorrect never changed it to that antisemitic phrase. Open an email and try it yourself.

Gov. Ned Lamont has elevated secrecy to the highest virtue in his administration. His office is years behind in fulfilling some requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Investigations drag on and on.

The offensive email offers Lamont an opportunity on what matters most to him. In a June 9 declaration on Twitter, the Greenwich Democrat wrote, “Here in Connecticut, Democrats

are fighting for a state that is welcoming for all. No matter your color, creed, or sexual orientation, you have a place in our great state.” If that’s true, Lamont will offer more than 140 characters of a lofty partisan pledge. He will act.

Antisemitism is the world’s oldest conspiracy theory. It has caused the slaughter of millions and remains a lethal virus thousands of years after it was first unleashed. The first step in containing it is to confront it. A governor can do that. Lamont’s office ignored an opportunity to do that last month when Rosenberg included the governor’s office on his appeal for help.

Lamont may be reluctant to highlight controversy or failings within his administration a little more than four months before he faces voters. His obligation to lead does not include a campaign sabbatical. Lamont should oversee the probe getting to the truth about the email and quickly provide Rosenberg and the public with its conclusions.

Rosenberg is right. “No one should have to tolerate this in the workplace” — or anywhere else.