OFFENSE

EMPLOYER’S PENALTY

RESULT ON APPEAL

DESCRIPTION

CASE NAME

Dishonesty

Termination

Reinstatement With Back Pay

Lieutenant terminated for multiple instances of untruthfulness. Though evidence lay on both sides of the issue, the decision of the Civil Service Commission to accept the lieutenant’s account of the events was not “arbitrary and capricious.”

Hill v. City of Germantown, 2010 WL 1240436 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2010).

Sexual Misconduct

Termination

Termination

Clear and convincing evidence established that deputy sheriff solicited oral sex while on duty. Circumstantial evidence as well as the demeanor of witnesses established that the complaining parties were likely more truthful than the deputy.

Miami County Sheriff, (Unreported decision; copies available from LRIS).

Sick Leave Abuse

1-Day Suspension

Verbal Reprimand

13-year lieutenant was required to use sick leave when he consumed alcohol as a result of anger about his divorce. Arbitrator concluded that lieutenant’s decision to allow himself to become so intoxicated that he was unable to report for work “was not the type of infirmity for which sick leave was designed.” However, progressive discipline principles mandated a reprimand, not a suspension.

Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department, LAIG 6827 (Garraty, 2009).