TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Former New Jersey boxing commissioner Larry Hazzard Sr. is suing state Attorney General Anne Milgram, claiming she ousted him for exposing errors by a subordinate.
Larry Hazzard Sr. filed a whistleblower protection lawsuit against Milgram and others in U.S. District Court in Trenton on Friday.
David Wald, a spokesman for Milgram, said he would not comment on the matter.
Hazzard, a former boxer and referee, was commissioner of the state Athletic Control Board from 1986 until he was fired in November. The board oversees boxing in Atlantic City, one of a handful of cities where big prizefights are often fought.
According to his lawsuit, he told state officials about health- and safety-related errors and legal violations that he says were made by Sylvester Cuyler, an underling in the commission.
Among the problems Hazard said he reported: Allowing a boxer to fight after failing to test negative for HIV, ignoring advice of the commission's doctors, and allowing urine samples to be stored in an unsecured refrigerator.
In the lawsuit, Hazzard said he told the governor's office about Cuyler's alleged misdeeds in a memo sent in October. After that, he claims, the Attorney General's Office, which oversees the boxing commission, began retaliating.
Hazzard said he was not allowed to use his own money to travel to Nevada to confer with the athletic commission there. He also said that when he was authorized to travel, he could not stay in a hotel unless he was at least 70 miles from home, the room cost less than $114, and he had a roommate.
When Hazzard was fired in November, Cuyler became acting commissioner. Cuyler did not immediately return a message left at his office.
At the time, Milgram said it was time for a change in the board.
In court papers, Hazzard says the firing has sullied his name and caused him psychological distress.
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LARRY HAZZARD SUES!!!
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