Building Inspector Drops Plans for Suit

A veteran Sierra Madre building inspector who had considered suing the city after officials had him followed by a private investigator has dropped his plans to pursue litigation, a city official and the inspector’s wife said Thursday.

City officials acknowledge that they paid a private investigation firm $1,400 to keep an eye on Stephen Pock, a city building inspector for 11 years, after allegations by residents and colleagues that he was not putting in a full day’s work.

The dispute escalated when City Manager John Davidson issued a memo to Pock saying he could be disciplined unless he kept to a schedule that included two 15-minute breaks and one hour for lunch.

Davidson said the probe had found no wrongdoing on Pock’s part.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we are not looking at any litigation on his side or disciplinary action on our side,” he said. “We’ve agreed to focus on the future and put the past behind us.”

Pock’s wife, Debra Pock, said the plans to pursue legal action were dropped after the city agreed to withdraw the city manager’s memorandum from her husband’s personnel file.