Court ruling drives suit vs. NYPD

A hero detective who said he was unfairly labeled a “hair bag” in Mayor de Blasio’s security detail will be able to depose the commanding officer of the troubled unit, a judge has ruled.

Detective Keith Dietrich, 55, sued in August, alleging he’d been wrongly passed over for promotions and given demeaning duties, like sitting in a booth behind City Hall in an area used for garbage disposal. He’s seeking $7 million in damages.

He alleged the commanding officer of the unit, Inspector Howard Redmond, had labeled him a “hair bag” — NYPD slang for a burned-out cop. The term weighed heavily in Manhattan Federal Judge Colleen McMahon’s decision to let the case proceed.

“The ‘hair bag’ comment is also clearly connected to the alleged adverse employment actions: Redmond not only influenced (Dietrich’s) assignments … but also his promotion opportunities,” McMahon wrote in a decision issued Thursday. The judgment paves the way for a deposition of Redmond, among others. “The next step is to exchange documents and take depositions,” Dietrich’s lawyer Marshall Bellovin said.

Dietrich (inset) received the NYPD’s prestigious Medal of Honor for a Wild West-style shootout with a gunman on Queens Blvd. in 1994. He is one of six cops in the executive protection unit who’ve filed discrimination suits. Dietrich was transferred out of the mayor’s detail after he sued.

“The court has not determined the credibility of any of the plaintiff’s claims. We will have no further comment while this case is pending,” a city Law Department spokesman said.

The Daily News revealed last week that an SUV driven by a member of the security detail was cruising the wrong way in 2015 when it crashed into a boiler truck. De Blasio was a passenger in the SUV. Redmond ordered members of the unit to cover up the incident, text messages show.