Fla. Commission Rules For Union, Against Fired Firefighter

Jan. 23--WEST PALM BEACH -- A state hearing officer has reversed his recommendation that the West Palm Beach firefighters union pay a former captain a year and a half of back pay and legal fees for failing to represent him after he was fired.

The Public Employees Relations Commission then ruled last week in favor of the West Palm Beach Association of Firefighters.

Rick Curtis has not decided whether to appeal, his attorney said.

Curtis was fired in May 2011 following a DUI conviction. But the conviction was quickly overturned after Curtis alleged in court that the judge had an "inappropriate relationship" with the vice president of the West Palm Beach Association of Firefighters, Doug Greene, who Curtis described as a rival. Neither Judge Marni Bryson nor Greene acknowledged Curtis' accusations but Curtis won a retrial.

Hearing officer Carlos Lopez initially determined in November that the union knew the city's reason for dismissing Curtis "would become a nullity" after Bryson recused herself from the case.

But the union appealed, arguing that Curtis would not have prevailed in arbitration and that the hearing officer did not look at all the pertinent information.

And on Jan. 17 the commission found that Curtis' actions when he was arrested, including verbal assaults to police officers and his refusal to take a sobriety test, "support the hearing officer's conclusion that (the union) acted reasonably in concluding that it would not prevail in arbitration, especially since Curtis had a prior disciplinary record worse than any other employee who had been dismissed."

The commission also disagreed with Curtis' argument that it was "double jeopardy" because Curtis had already been suspended 30 days for his actions after his arrest. The commission found that new information could be considered.

In a text message Wednesday, Curtis said that white fire captains have kept their jobs for much worse offenses.

Curtis is one of three African-American fire rescue workers who sued the city fire department, contending that they were denied promotions because of their race. The suit didn't succeed, but in August 2010 the Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity ruled that Curtis was discriminated against. The city has yet to pay Curtis any money as that matter has gone through the court system.

"I am disappointed with this temporary setback and unwavering in my search for justice," Curtis wrote Wednesday.

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