OFFENSE

EMPLOYER’S PENALTY

RESULT ON APPEAL

DESCRIPTION

CASE NAME

Conduct Unbecoming, Off Duty

Termination

30-Day Suspension

While off duty, officer became heavily intoxicated, left a sexually explicit message for a female officer, and drove around town. Officer had never been disciplined and had a personnel file “replete with letters of commendation and notes of appreciation.”

City of Dubuque, 2009 WL 139100 (Iowa App. 2009).

Dishonesty

Demotion

Demotion

Sergeant with 15 years’ tenure demoted for making misleading statements about whether he had his captain’s permission to go on an extradition to Denver, Colorado. The Arbitrator referred to the sergeant’s “blatant and repeated lies and urging of a co-worker to cover up his ongoing misbehavior.”

King County, WA Sheriff’s Office, LAIG 6671 (Lankford, 2008).

Substance Abuse

Termination

Termination

Firefighter tested positive for cocaine. Firefighter was unable to show unreliability concerning the test results and analysis.

In re Gonzales, 2009 WL 88349 (N.J. Super. A.D. 2009).