OFFENSE

EMPLOYER’S PENALTY

RESULT ON APPEAL

DESCRIPTION

CASE NAME

Conduct Unbecoming, Off-Duty

Termination

Termination

Deputy posted anonymous comments to a local blog asserting that the Sheriff was having an affair with an office secretary and that a lieutenant had slept with a variety of individuals in the Department. Defense that comments were not meant to be demeaning rejected on the grounds that reasonable individuals might view them as demeaning. Deputy also guilty of insubordination.

Shelby County, Ohio, FMCS # 008-00865 (Fullmer, 2009).

Conduct Unbecoming, On-Duty

30-Day Suspension

6-Day Suspension

Corrections officer made disparaging remarks about supervisor. Key witness for employer did not testify at arbitration hearing.

Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department, LAIG 6796 (Townsend, 2009).

Substance Abuse

72-Hour Suspension

No Discipline

Firefighter accepted diversion in lieu of prosecution on criminal charges of boating under the influence of alcohol. Firefighter denied that he had been under the influence of alcohol, and the employer “made no effort to interview either the arresting officers or either of the other adults involved in the incident, nor did he talk to the prosecuting attorney.”

City of Memphis, LAIG 6801 (Shaw, 2009).