Justin Barrett, who re-ignited controversy over Gatesgate with racist e-mail about Gates, filed a federal lawsuit against the city yesterday. He's demanding unspecified damages for his pain and suffering - and an end to efforts by Police Commissioner Ed Davis and Mayor Tom Menino to bounce him from the force, at least without a hearing.
In his suit, Barrett says he sent the e-mail to Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham (who says she deleted it without finishing it) from his own personal computer at his Readville home, via a private Web server. The suit does not mention from where he sent a copy of the letter to other acquaintances - one of whom forwarded it to the Herald, which broke the story about the letter.
And he says his right to due process under both federal and state constitutions have been violated because Davis vowed to terminate him and Menino said he was "G-O-N-E" before holding any disciplinary hearings.
The suit also claims that Davis sent "upwards of ten" uniformed and plainclothes officers to his home to strip him of his badge and service revolver.
Barrett's court complaint.
