Dispute over former police officer Mike Taylor's law enforcement certification brings legal action
By DAVID TELLER
Staff Reporter
Just as Cheney gets one lawsuit resolved, another one has surfaced.
Former Cheney Police Officer Mike Taylor has filed a wrongful job dismissal lawsuit after he was let go when city officials said the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission Academy, the state law enforcement certification agency, informed them that Taylor's credentials were invalid.
The case was referred to the city's insurance carrier, Washington Cities Insurance Authority, after the Cheney City Council denied Taylor's claims for damages of $3.5 million dollars during the June 9 City Council meeting.
The attorney representing Taylor, Michael Kinkley, said the Aug. 8, 2008 dismissal is unjustified.
“It's a travesty, it's completely unfair,” Kinkley said in a telephone interview.
Kinkley, a Spokane attorney who is a designated attorney for the Fraternal Order of Police, said the city terminated Taylor to save the cost of sending him to the academy.
State law administered by the academy mandates all non-reserve police officers attend the academy immediately after beginning patrol as an officer. Officers cannot attend the academy unless they are employed by an organized law enforcement agency.
City Administrator Arlene Fisher said Taylor was hired as a lateral transfer, meaning he already had attended training and was fully accredited.
“We received information from the (academy) that he had not attended a basic law enforcement academy, which is a substantial credential to become a patrol officer,” Fisher said.
Taylor is a 14-year veteran of law enforcement that began in the San Bernardino (Calif.) County Sheriff's Department. He had worked in Medical Lake for four years prior to working in Cheney the last five years.
Kinkley argues that when Taylor applied for the job he held the proper credentials and had certification from the academy. According to Kinkley, the certification issue was due to a bureaucratic error. The academy has withdrawn its certification until Taylor completes the full academy.
Another point Kinkley made was how the city handled Taylor after questions about the academy's certification arose. Kinkley said after Taylor was hired, the city sent two officers with less seniority to the academy to be certified, but they just fire Taylor. Kinkley added that the Civil Service Commission would not hear Taylor's grievance. He said the chief examiner of the Civil Service Commission is also the city's human resources director, which is a “clear conflict of interest.” Kinkley also said the city did not hold an open meeting to discuss the hearing.
“That's just not right,” Kinkley said, adding that the city also refused to request a waiver from the academy and refused to send Taylor to the academy to complete the training necessary to maintain his certification
Fisher responded to Kinkley's claims saying that the Civil Service Commission twice requested that Taylor provide additional information to review his claim, which he never did. The commission later met and took into account the information they had at the time and decided not to re-instate Taylor.
Prior to Taylor's termination, Fisher said he was afforded a Loudermill Hearing, which is a process where a civil servant is afforded the opportunity to explain their side of an argument or dispute before the decision is made whether to terminate them or not.
Fisher said Taylor's appeal to the training academy was also denied. Despite that outcome and the two hearings, the situation surrounding Taylor's certification remained unresolved between the city and Taylor.
Fisher defends the city's decision to terminate Taylor, saying that the city never agreed to sponsor Taylor at the academy level because he should have already began patrol in the city with those credentials.
“We are under no obligation to retain an employee after learning that their credentials are deficient,” she said, adding that it's unfortunate that Taylor has taken his termination to this level. She reinforces her position that he does not have the credentials to be a commissioned officer in Cheney.
Kinkley said Taylor is entitled to get his job back. He added that Taylor does not understand why the new city administration is treating him the way they are. Until the questions of certification surfaced, Kinkley said Taylor had no blemishes on his performance record. Kinkley said Taylor did nothing wrong, he is just getting ground up by bureaucracy.
“All (Cheney) had to do was send him to the academy,” Kinkley said.
David Teller can be reached at [email protected]
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