A New Jersey appeals court has upheld the reversal of firings for Vineland Police Chief Rudy Beu and two of his lieutenants, Adam Austino and Thomas Riordan, closing out one chapter of a years-long employment battle that split the department into warring camps. The Appellate Division panel issued its ruling on October 26, backing three separate decisions by state administrative law judges who found the city's 2021 terminations should not stand.
According to the Courier-Post, Vineland had challenged the administrative law judges' 2024 findings, but the New Jersey Civil Service Commission upheld those findings before the matter reached the appellate judges, who heard arguments on October 15. The case, formally identified in New Jersey Courts records as In the Matter of Rudolph Beu, et al., consolidated the disciplinary disputes involving the chief and his two lieutenants into a single appeal.
Vineland had issued preliminary disciplinary notices to Beu, Austino and Riordan on November 15, 2021, and all three were fired once final notices were issued. The appellate ruling did not end the officers' legal disputes.
New Charges Keep Officers Off the Job
Despite the favorable ruling, none of the three men are returning to duty immediately. Austino and Riordan will not go back to work right away because the city filed additional charges against all three officers before the administrative law judges issued their favorable decisions in the original cases. Trials on those new charges have already been completed for Beu and Austino, with decisions expected shortly, while Riordan is still awaiting trial in his case.
Beu himself will not return to work at all, having reached mandatory retirement age. He became chief in January 2017, taking over after Chief Tim Codispoti retired, The Daily Journal reported.
That same proceeding detailed four disciplinary charges against Austino, including retaliation or disparate treatment, discrimination affecting equal employment opportunity, and conduct unbecoming a public employee. The commission ultimately ordered Vineland to immediately reinstate Austino along with any outstanding back pay and benefits, reversing his November 15, 2021 removal in full and holding the city liable for reasonable defense legal fees submitted by Hartman.
A Pattern of Retaliation Claims
Beu and Austino have both said they were illegally targeted for dismissal as acts of retaliation, and that they were at odds with leaders and members of Police Benevolent Association 266. The dispute has ground through multiple layers of New Jersey's administrative and judicial system for years, with the Commission issuing a September 2025 reversal and reinstatement-related relief in Beu's case, while the city continued pursuing new legal avenues rather than let the matter rest.
As of the ruling, the city of Vineland had not responded to questions about the decision. The case now moves into its next phase as the city awaits outcomes on the newer charges against Beu and Austino, while Riordan's separate case still heads toward trial.
