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Arbiter faults city for firing

It must rehire the fire inspector and will review its disciplinary process.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE
Published March 21, 2007

CLEARWATER - For the third time in six months, a federal arbiter has found that the Clearwater fire department didn't follow its collective bargaining agreement procedures when it fires employees.

The ruling requires that fire inspector Duane Anderson, 48, be reinstated in his job with back pay. And it prompted renewed calls from the firefighters union for an overhaul at the top of city government. The two have had a tense relationship for years.

"When is it going to stop?" asked John Lee, president of Local 1158 of the International Association of Firefighters. "How many unfair labor practices? How many arbitrations? When is the council going to say enough? This is taxpayers' money. We should cherish the work of firefighters. We shouldn't be out taking them to court."

But Mayor Frank Hibbard said he has had conversations with City Manager Bill Horne about the recent decisions and believes that appropriate changes are being made.

"They assured me that they changed the internal procedure so they are being very cautious about any personnel decision they make so they have ground for those personnel decisions," Hibbard said. "I don't want to have these arbitrations. It disrupts things. It's costly."

The latest case came about in August 2005 when Anderson was fired. City officials cited a host of reasons, including his interpretation of fire codes and his appearance before the housing board while in uniform to support a friend.

Federal arbiter Mitchell B. Goldberg ruled Friday that although Anderson's work record was "spotted and problematic" at times, the city violated due process by not conducting a proper investigation and not conducting a proper pretermination hearing as required under the contract with the union.

City officials said Tuesday that it may be time to revisit the disciplinary process, something the union has been arguing for years. But Horne said the ruling supported the city's main contention that Anderson had some problems as an inspector.

"We will certainly look at it and review the language and look at our process and see if we need to make adjustments to it," Horne said. "There's nothing difficult about doing that."

While Goldberg acknowledged Anderson's performance included problems, he said Anderson should have been suspended for 60 days. Goldberg ordered that the city reinstate Anderson with full pay and seniority minus any unemployment compensation he has collected and 60 days' pay.

"It's been a long time coming," Anderson said Tuesday. "I'm ecstatic about the whole thing and the vindication couldn't have come at a better time. Having my name cleared is a wonderful thing. It's a beautiful day out."

This is the third time in six months that a federal arbiter has reversed the fire department's decision to fire an employee. Separate arbiters ruled that the city wrongly fired veteran paramedics Trevor Murray and Mike Jones in May 2005 and ordered the city to rehire them with back pay. The two failed to answer the 911 call of a woman who later was deemed a chronic caller.

"They didn't have the justification to fire these guys," said Paul Donnelly, the attorney who represented all three fired workers. "The decisionmakers are the issue ... and the fact they use a kangaroo procedure supports that they are making bad decisions."

Horne, however, made no apologies: "I am the one making the decisions ... I had no reservation in terminating the employees based on their behavior."

To see a copy of the arbiter's ruling, visit links.tampabay.com.

[Last modified March 20, 2007, 21:29:41]