Kansas City has filed a petition to block a recent arbitration award that granted the firefighter in a fatal wreck to return to work.
Firefighter Dominic Biscari, who was driving the rig that caused the crash that killed three people, should be awared backpay, return to work and have his slate wiped clean, the arbitrator ruled, according to KMBC.
Biscari was placed on three years of probation but never fired.
The arbitrator ruled that the accident should be removed from Biscari's personnel file, that the city should pay the union's legal costs, and that Biscari should be suspended for three days — one for each life lost.
Victims' friends and families say the arbitrator's demands are a slap in the face.
The city argues in its motion it should not be forced to give back pay, reinstate employment, or pay the union's legal fees and says the arbitrator is way out of his bounds.
In December 2021, the pumper was speeding and ran a red light with lights and sirens on when it crashed into a car and then continued on, hitting three other cars and knocking a pedestrian into a building. That building collapsed about a minute later, police crash team investigators determined.
The crash trapped a Honda CRV under the pumper, killing the driver, Jennifer San Nicolas, and a passenger, Michael Elwood.
A pedestrian, Tami Knight, was also killed. She was waiting on the sidewalk while her boyfriend was unlocking his car.
The wreck happened after the rig had been cancelled on the call.
