HARRISBURG — A new federal lawsuit accuses high-ranking current and former commanders of the Pennsylvania State Police of retaliating against leaders of the troopers' union who were responsible for handling labor grievances.

The 53-page lawsuit by the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association and six of its officials, filed Thursday in Harrisburg, claims the defendants have "engaged in a deliberate, premeditated and illegal course of conduct to retaliate" against union leadership.

Named as defendants were Commissioner Frank E. Pawlowski, Deputy Commissioner John R. Brown and former commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller.

The suit says Miller, now a security official with the National Football League, encouraged employees to retaliate against the union and punished those "who followed the laws of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania" in dealings with the union.