Grievant was a Dispatcher with the County 911 agency when she was terminated for two (2) separate and unrelated incidents occurring over a five (5) day period.

In the first incident, the Grievant got into a shouting match with a caller, who was acting hysterically, but the Grievant did nothing to deescalate the situation.  In addition, she failed to properly transfer the call to the Sheriff’s Office or timely notify the officers involved in the call that there were weapons involved, thus endangering them.

In the second incident, the Grievant received a call on the non-emergency line.  She immediately placed the caller on hold and continued a phone conversation on her personal cell phone with a family member.  She made no inquiries from the caller to determine if there was an emergency, prior to placing them on hold for over two (2) minutes, but later claimed she “knew” what they were calling about because they were a frequent caller for custody issues. 

The Employer argued that these two (2) calls were mishandled and amounted to serious misconduct, that the discipline was reasonably related to the severity of the charges and that the public deserves better. The Employer also noted that the Grievant failed to take responsibility for her actions and blamed others. 

The Union argued that the Employer lacked the requisite just cause to terminate the Grievant and that, pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), discipline will be applied in a corrective, progressive and uniform manner and that the Employer failed to meet its “heavy” burden to justify a termination, especially since there was no prior discipline. 

The Arbitrator found just cause for termination and noted that discipline is to be progressive “except in extreme instances… of gross misconduct…”  Even if she was not properly trained, a dispatcher with twenty-seven years’ experience would know that screaming at someone only escalates matters.  The failure to timely notify law enforcement of the presence of weapons on the call was the most egregious component of the entire situation and could have resulted in the officers or others being harmed or worse.  The Grievant’s decision to place the caller on hold while she continued a personal call could have escalated from a “custody dispute” to a “domestic”, potentially placing one in harm’s way.  The Arbitrator found that the Grievant’s misconduct was so egregious and so severe, with the potential of serious to tragic consequences, that even twenty-seven years work history, with no discipline of record, is sufficient to justify the termination.

Grievance denied. 

Employer: Lorain County 911                                                                                       Date: August 2023