Jurors are expected to begin deliberating Tuesday in New London Superior Court in a lawsuit brought by former Norwich patrolman Douglas Morello, who claims he was illegally terminated five years ago and is entitled to more than $3 million in damages.

Morello, an officer of 16½ years, claims he was fired in September 2010 in violation of the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act because was mentally disabled and the department failed to make reasonable accomodations for his disability. The city contends Morello, who was suspended and investigated after a woman reported he had been following her, was terminated because he posed a threat to himself or others based on a pattern of behavior that he is likely to repeat.

Attorneys Jacques J. Parenteau, representing Morello, and Matthew E. Auger, representing the City of Norwich, delivered closing arguments Friday following a three-week trial that featured testimony from Morello, psychiatrists who examined him, police Chief Louis J. Fusaro, union representatives and police supervisors. Morello, wearing a pin-striped business suit, sat with his attorneys while his mother watched from the gallery.

Parenteau asked the jurors to not "package this case as a protect-and-serve soundbyte." During the trial, he had elicited testimony from officers who told of other, more "favored" employees being transferred to desk duty, court duty or assigned a patrol partner after they suffered physical or mental problems. Morello, he said, was "kicked to the curb" after nearly 17 years of service, denied his pension and has been unable to find similar work and provide for himself and his son and mother.  Parenteau said the city had not proved Morello is a threat and said he could perform his duty with "a reasonable accommodation."

"He's not the stereotype that is being portrayed and projected by the defense," Parenteau argued. "This man is not a monster."

He is seeking economic damages based on his lost pension and wages, and non-economic damages based on the emotional distress, pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life he has suffered since his termination.

Friends of Morello testified that he had become a hermit since his termination and one asked him he was considering "eating a bullet," according to Parenteau.

"There has not been a single day that has gone by that Doug hasn't suffered," Parenteau said.

According to testimony, Morello was suspended in 2009 after Ashley Hanson complained that Morello had been following her in his cruiser and at a local store. Police documented five incidents of following, including one in which he left his assigned patrol area and crossed into the town of Preston. They also learned that Morello had accessed the Connecticut On-Line Law Enforcement Communiations Teleprocessing System (COLLECT) to access information about her.

Following his suspension, the department ordered Morello to undergo a "fitness for duty" examination and to seek treatment through the city's employee assistance program. Chief Fusaro suspended Morello on Dec. 18, 2009, but allowed him to begin serving the suspension after the holidays.

"He (the chief) said, 'I want him to come back. I want him to get well. But I'm sorry. I have some concerns about his ability to interact with the public, so I want him to get that fitness for duty exam,'" Auger argued Friday.

Dr. Catherine Lewis of the Univrsity of Connecticut Mental Health Center, who conducted the fitness for duty exam, determined Morello was unable to perform his duties and it was unlikely he would regain the capacity to do so.

Auger referenced problematic incidents involving Morello and women dating back to the early 1990s, when he said a complaint from a woman who said Morello behaved inappriopriately was investigated and "not sustained." He said there were complaints in 2004 and 2005 involving another woman.

"We'll never know what happened" in the previous incidents, Auger argued. "But we do know what happened to Ashley Hanson. Is it unfair for the chief to return to the file and see those incidents and say, this is a patttern that's untreatable and enduring and unlikely to change?"

Morello's behavior, he said, "strikes at the heart of the purpose of a police officer."

Morello sought an examination from Dr. Walid Jaziri, who diagnosed him with generalized anxiety disorder and symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder. Jaziri said Morello was fit for duty with medication and counseling.

Auger argued that Morello's symptoms — including fatigue, anxiety, sleeplessness and stress — occurred only after he was suspended and are normal for somebody who had received a notice of discipline from his employer.

Morello claims the city did not allow him get a third fitness for duty exam. The city began the termination process in April 2010, sending him a so-called "Loudermill" letter notifying Morello of its intent to fire him. Two more letters followed, and on the eve of his termination in September 2010, attorney Peter Bartinik sent a letter to the city on behalf of Morello requesting that Morello be allowed to take leave and continue treatment under the Family Medical Leave Act, but Auger said Morello, also represented by his union, did not exercise his FMLA rights.

"The guy has been here for 16½ years," Auger argued. "You'd better give him his due process. And they did."

k.florin@theday.com

Twitter: @KFLORIN