Fired state trooper to get back pay

Raleigh, N.C. — A former North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper fired for having sex while on duty will receive two months of back pay, a Superior Court judge has ruled.

Monty Poarch was fired in 2003 after a woman filed a complaint against him with the patrol's internal affairs division. He later admitted to having sex with her in his patrol car and at a district station but denied that it happened while he was on duty.

His recommended punishment was a 10-day suspension, but then-commander Richard Holden chose to terminate the trooper. Bryan Beatty, the secretary of the North Carolina Crime Control and Public Safety, upheld the firing.

Poarch's fight to get his job back was in court for years and landed in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens, who ultimately ruled that the Patrol was justified in firing Poarch.

But Stephens ruled that Poarch was entitled to wages from Aug. 11, 2003, to Oct. 23, 2003, the period in which he was being investigated for the allegations prior to his firing.

35 Comments

WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

VIEW ALL 35 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments

Wait a dang minute. Number one, an entire profession cannot be condemned because of one person.

Now, as I read the story, he had sex with her in his patrol car, AND at a district station. That is twice! And she contacted IAD because.............

Other than a trooper using government property for his sexual affair, what else is wrong in this story? Did he tell her "no more" and make her mad so whe filed the complaint? Did she get another ticket and he refused to help get her out of it? Something just doesn't add up here!

peplquitwhinin
May 25, 2011 1:12 p.m.

And the lady should be identified. Who knows when she may strike again.

twc
May 25, 2011 12:58 p.m.

I have no problem with the trooper, he was off duty. But the lady should have to pay for the use of public property.

twc
May 25, 2011 12:57 p.m.

Don't think he should gotten the back pay. Like one post stated, if he was caught at work having sex he would been fired and most likely no back pay.