Court Upholds Arbitration Award and Rules Connecticut Police Officer’s Lie Not Bad Enough to Violate Public Policy

By: Jim Cline and Geoff Kiernan

In Town of Stratford (Connecticut), the City attempted to vacate an arbitration decision that had reinstated a police officer who was discharged for lying to an independent neurologist by withholding medical information about his seizures and alcohol abuse.  The City argued that the police officer must be fired because there is a public policy against intentional dishonesty in connection with police employment. The Court agreed that while there was a public policy against intentional policy officer dishonesty in connection with employment, the dishonesty at issue here was not so extreme as to make the arbitrator’s award a violation of public policy.

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Arbitrator Guy Coss Holds that Spokane Valley Fire Captain Extinguished His Remedy for Termination by Appealing to the Civil Service Commission

By Anthony Rice

email_devilIn Spokane Valley Fire Dep’t, Arbitrator Guy Coss dismissed a Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD) employee’s grievance as not arbitrable, because he exhausted his remedy by first appealing to the Civil Service Commission.

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Despite an Unjust Demotion, the CBA Does Not Give a Police Captain Redress

By Anthony Rice

captainIn City of West Palm Beach, the arbitrator held the grievance was not arbitrable, because the captain (grievant) was outside the bargaining unit and the CBA contained no language concerning grieving a captain’s demotion.

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Federal District Court Trashes City’s Motion to Dismiss Due Process Claims of Terminated Police Officer Accused of Misusing City Dumpsters

By Emily Nelson

DumpsterIn Mariano v. Borough of Dickson City, a Pennsylvania Federal District Court held that the City was not entitled to dismissal of a terminated police officer’s claim that his right to due process was violated when he was fired shortly after filing grievances.

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Officer Terminated after Arrest for Illegal Sale of Firearm Survives Motion to Dismiss Due Process Claim

By David Worley

Due ProcessIn Dooley v. City of Bridgeport, 34 IER Cases 1507 (S.D. Ill. 2013), the court denied motions to dismiss the due process claims of Officer Dooley, an Illinois police officer who was terminated following an arrest for illegally selling a firearm.  The charge turned out to be baseless, and Dooley challenged his termination on due process grounds and a number of state statutes.  The court found that as Dooley had a well defined property interest in his employment and no sufficient inquiry had indicated termination was actually proper, his claims could survive a motion to dismiss.

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How Voluntary is a Resignation While Under Investigation? Georgia Federal Court Finds Investigator’s Threat, Pre-Written Resignation Letter Potentially Coercive

By Kate Acheson

In Rogers v. Georgia Dep’t of Corr., a federal district court in Georgia considered whether an internal investigator’s threat of termination and presentation of a pre-written resignation letter is sufficient to show that a resignation was coerced.  The court found that, although the knowledge of impending discipline alone is not enough to make a resignation involuntary, the threat and pre-written letter was enough evidence to possibly persuade a jury that the employee’s termination was not voluntary.

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Veteran Firefighter’s Termination for Marijuana Use Lacks Just Cause

By Kate Acheson

An arbitrator reduced a 24-year veteran firefighter’s termination for use, despite a previous last chance agreement arising from previous cocaine use in City of Cleveland, 130 LA 1077 (Cohen 2012).  Arbitrator Hyman Cohen cited the City’s improper application of the last chance agreement and mitigating factors concerning the recent marijuana use to justify his reinstatement order.

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