By Demorris A. Lee
St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Copyright 2006 Times Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The city has asked a circuit judge to set aside a federal arbitrator’s decision that it rehire a paramedic who was fired in 2005 for not responding to a 911 call.
The city says federal arbitrator Martin Holland exceeded the authority given to him in the contract when he ruled the city would have to rehire Trevor Murray and help him regain his medical certification in Pinellas County, according to documents filed Dec. 11 in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court.
“The City of Clearwater respectfully requests that the Court enter an order vacating the award and denying Murray’s grievance, or, in the alternative, remanding the matter for rehearing before a new arbitrator,” the court documents said.
The city fired Murray and fellow paramedic Mike Jones on May 12, 2005, for failing to respond to a 911 call on March 26, 2005, from a woman who often called and falsely claimed rape. The woman ended up being taken for a mental evaluation and labeled a frequent caller.
Murray and Jones have both said they should have answered the call, but have insisted they should not have been fired over the incident.
Two separate federal arbitrators agreed and have ordered the city to reinstate both men.
While city officials have filed legal documents in the Murray case, they also have been in conversations with him about possible settlements.
“We have had some informal discussions,” said Pam Akin, the city’s attorney. Akin declined to elaborate. City Manager Bill Horne didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.
Murray said that an offer was put on the table recently, but he declined to discuss it in detail.
“They showed me some options, but the arbitrator ruled that the city give me my job back,” Murray said. “I want my job back.”
Though the city has indicated that it would not ask a judge to set aside the decision in the Jones’ case, it also had a conversation with him about a possible settlement.
“Yes, I have had some discussions through the union attorney, and the city has made two separate proposals and neither one have been favorable for me,” Jones said.
In court documents concerning the Murray case, the city said that Holland substituted his judgment when deciding standards of excellence instead of following the standards required by the county’s medical director and the city.
The documents also said Holland “included an unwarranted and unfounded attack on the City’s Fire Chief and Human Resources Manager that was unsupported by the record and otherwise had no rational basis” the court document said.
In his ruling, Holland said fire Chief Jamie Geer apparently withheld a report from human resources officials that did not support firing Murray.
Holland also said that the city’s Human Resources Department did not conduct its own investigation of the circumstances surrounding the incident, nor did the department’s director, Joe Roseto, view all of the evidence before firing Murray.
The Murray and Jones incident is one of several disputes the city and Geer have had with IAFF Local 1158, the union that represents the fire department’s rank and file members.
The city has lost a number of unfair labor practice complaints filed by the union.
The city, however, has recently settled two claims with the union. In a Nov. 21 agreement, the city agreed not to arbitrarily deny union members leave time for union meetings. In addition, the city agreed to pay the union’s legal fees of $4,576.28.
This is the second time in five months that the city has settled a complaint against Geer for denying union members leave time.
In July, the city agreed to stop arbitrarily denying union members leave time for union meetings and it paid the union’s $7,230 legal fees and costs.
The May 19 grievance filed by the union charged Geer with denying union leave time requests for arbitrary and discriminatory reasons, and for threatening members with disciplinary action in response to their requests for union leave time and their requests for his reasons for denying leave time.
“We are doing everything we can to resolve any issues and move forward in a positive manner,” said Elizabeth Daly, fire department spokeswoman.