Firefighter suspended for #metoo accusation, following arrest but no trial or conviction

[No name given]

Jurisdiction

California

I was suspended by my employer, a large fire department in southern California for 30 days following a year long investigation by internal affairs.

I was party to an incident involving somebody I knew loosely. I was released on scene that night by the patrol officers. A detective reopened the case a week later, arrested me and began her investigation. I hired attorneys. It was discovered during the detective's investigation, that there were fundamental misrepresentations of truth on the part of the 'victim' as recorded in video depositions. The detective decided to still hand the case to the DA. The DA threw the case out, writing an opinion stating the reasons why which included these false statements and other supporting reasons. The victim has a history of a false sexual assault allegation in another state. The city attorney was then offered the case for review of any lesser crimes. The city attorney also threw out the case. I returned to work and carried on with my life.

This detective then went on her own to my employer directly, who then started a year long investigation using the detective's case material. I was eventually suspended, for which I appealed, which was denied and I carried out my suspension.

I never saw a courtroom, I never saw a jury, I never saw a judge, I never experienced an opportunity to plead my case. Yet my character was completely defamed by my employer by forcing me to serve a suspension for a crime I not only didn't commit, but was never convicted of or tried for. The entire thing was based on hearsay.

Do I have a case?

 

[army judge]

You can consult with a CA attorney or two to see what remedies MIGHT exist.

You could also speak with your union rep. to see what position the union takes.

 

[zddoodah]

Do I have a case?

A case of what?

To the best of my knowledge, most firefighters are members of labor unions. If that's the case with you, then this matter will be governed by your union's collective bargaining agreement with your employer. If there's no union, then you can consult with a local employment law attorney for an analysis of the facts and advice.

 

[mightymoose]

You apparently were disciplined over employer policy, not for doing anything illegal. Certainly your suspension made clear the reason why you were suspended.
If you were found to have violated your employers rules of conduct, even off duty, you could be disciplined. As above, the rules regarding this process would be covered by a CBA, which I would expect a large department to have. You need to look at this within those rules, not criminal law and procedure.

 

[No name given]

You can consult with a CA attorney or two to see what remedies MIGHT exist.

You could also speak with your union rep. to see what position the union takes.

Yes, I'm aware. I thought I would come here first and see if the forum could offer some value.

A case of what?

To the best of my knowledge, most firefighters are members of labor unions. If that's the case with you, then this matter will be governed by your union's collective bargaining agreement with your employer. If there's no union, then you can consult with a local employment law attorney for an analysis of the facts and advice.

Yes, we have a union. To be honest, they seem pretty useless. I wasn't getting much guidance at all on this.

Again, I figured I would come here and see if anybody could provide specific ideas on whether or not I had a case. 'On what' you ask? Well, that's partially why I came here. I don't know the law, maybe there's something about defamation. Or due process. Or specific information on the right an employer has to pursue a criminal matter. Or maybe the harassment in respect to the LAPD detective coming directly to my employer.

You apparently were disciplined over employer policy, not for doing anything illegal. Certainly your suspension made clear the reason why you were suspended.
If you were found to have violated your employers rules of conduct, even off duty, you could be disciplined. As above, the rules regarding this process would be covered by a CBA, which I would expect a large department to have. You need to look at this within those rules, not criminal law and procedure.

Yes, the discipline was in regards to employer and county policy. I was found to have violated these policies, but without a jury trial I just don't understand how an employer can circumvent the justice system and make its own ruling on a criminal matter. As I said, the entire thing was hearsay.

I'll see if I can get my hands on the CBA and see if the rules were followed.

 

[hrforme]

This much is true by your own statement "I was party to an incident involving somebody I knew loosely. I was released on scene that night by the patrol officers." Does that in any way break a code of conduct policy that the employer might have (regardless of all the other details)? In the end the employer is NOT a court of law and discipline doesn't require the level of evidence that a courtroom/criminal trial does. The employer didn't find you guilty of assault -- they found that you went against "employer and county policy" - An employer is not required to use the court system at all.

The only thing that might be able to save you is your union or CBA but it sounds like they agreed with the employer if they weren't willing to back you in this issue. Definitely your CBA is your best bet, but I am betting that it doesn't cover places where you break policy.

 

[No name given]

This much is true by your own statement "I was party to an incident involving somebody I knew loosely. I was released on scene that night by the patrol officers." Does that in any way break a code of conduct policy that the employer might have (regardless of all the other details)? In the end the employer is NOT a court of law and discipline doesn't require the level of evidence that a courtroom/criminal trial does. The employer didn't find you guilty of assault -- they found that you went against "employer and county policy" - An employer is not required to use the court system at all.

The only thing that might be able to save you is your union or CBA but it sounds like they agreed with the employer if they weren't willing to back you in this issue. Definitely your CBA is your best bet, but I am betting that it doesn't cover places where you break policy.

Understandable. Well that's the thing, the entirety of what I was accused of is encapsulated by the accusation and charge. Aside from that, there was no conduct I was found to be responsible for in terms of policies. So essentially yes, they found me guilty of assault, then matched that up with loose policies governing conduct.

As far as the union not backing me and bridging that with 'they agreed with the employer' is an assumption and a stretch. On the surface that might be an easy thing to deduct, but dig deeper and you'd understand the nature of our union and what they are primarily concerned with and what they're willing to give time and money to and what they're not. This simply isn't something they are willing to go to bat for.

Just trying to put out there what I understand and what I don't understand. I hope I'm not coming off as argumentative, this is just a sensitive issue. It is unfathomable that I can be accused of something by somebody who was proven to lie under oath, has a history of false accusations, and then essentially destroy my name at my employer. And I was never in a courtroom, and nobody ever heard the case, and I was never convicted. It blows my mind.

 

[cbg]

The bottom line is that unless you have a contract that specifies what you can and cannot be fired for and this violates the contract, you can be fired because it's a day ending in Y or because you put green shoelaces in your sneakers. Your firing did not violate any laws; therefore it was not a wrongful termination even if it might have been unfair and even if it was for something you didn't do. If it violates your union contract it's up to your union to support you; if the union will not support you you're SOL.

 

[zddoodah]

Yes, we have a union. To be honest, they seem pretty useless. I wasn't getting much guidance at all on this.

Again, I figured I would come here and see if anybody could provide specific ideas on whether or not I had a case. 'On what' you ask? Well, that's partially why I came here. I don't know the law, maybe there's something about defamation. Or due process. Or specific information on the right an employer has to pursue a criminal matter. Or maybe the harassment in respect to the LAPD detective coming directly to my employer.

Regardless of how useful or useless your union is, your relationship with your employer is nevertheless governed by the union's collective bargaining agreement, which no one here has read. Due process is not normally required in employment situations, but it might be in the context of a union.