Yale Policewoman Rehired Despite Protests

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--A Yale policewoman accused of insulting and harassing a black student has been reinstated by a grievance panel, despite protests by Yale's top police administrator and by university President A. Bartlett Giamatti.

University Secretary Henry Chauncey, who oversees the police department, fired Natalie Podryhula in November after studying the accusations against her. Podryhula denied the charges and two weeks ago a grievance panel decided firing was too severe a penalty and instead imposed a six-month probation and one-month's loss of salary.

"This is one of the few times here I've been really angry," Chauncy said two weeks ago. "I felt very strongly that the evidence showed this officer shouldn't be carrying a gun. I still fell it now. But I'm absolutely handcuffed," he added.

Giamatti said last week he, too, onjected to the findings of the panel and added that the administration will "closely monitor" the 28-year-old officer's performance.

Podryhula currently works behind a desk and can't return to the streets until the city board of police commissioners returns her badge at a meeting later this month.

Black student leaders sharply criticized Podryhula's rehiring and spokesmen for the Committee on Race Relations say they plan a "thorough investigation" of the grievance panel's findings.