Louisiana owner of private security firm claims board denied him due process in license revocation
BATON ROUGE LA May 14 2018 – The owner of a private security company seeks more than $2 million in damages from a state agency that oversees the industry in a May 2 complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.
Plaintiffs Nicholas A. Fetty and Delta Tactical, LLC allege their constitutional rights to due process were violated by members of the state board of Private Security Examiners. The lawsuit claims the defendants violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, as well as the Louisiana Constitution of 1974.
Fetty is the owner of Delta, which is a licensed member of the board. The state government agency’s purpose is to ensure private security agents and businesses are in compliance with state regulations. Fetty accused the board of violating its own rules when the board filed notice of its intent to revoke Delta’s license in October, seven months after it was initially licensed. Delta’s license has been revoked and Delta has been ordered to cease and desist any private security work in the state.
Delta accuses the board of unlawfully issuing both the notice and the order, as the agency allegedly did not provide Delta or Fetty with sufficient notice or an opportunity for a fair and impartial hearing before it issued the notice.
State law says the applicant will get a 15-day notice for the opportunity of a hearing before its license is suspended or revoked, or before the applicant receives fines or costs that add up to more than $500.
Plaintiffs state the defendant’s decisions has led to a threat to Fetty’s economic liberty and “his right to engage in the practice of a private security agent and a private security business, free from unreasonable governmental interference.”
The plaintiffs add the defendants’ actions have also led to “real, substantial and irreparable harm.” Delta has had to let go a number of its most talented employees.
Plaintiffs requested an entry judgment that would declare the board’s actions against Fetty and Delta unconstitutional and asks for $2.3 million in past, present, and future punitive damages as a result of the alleged violations.
