Retaliation Cases

The plaintiff city sought to confirm an arbitration award issued in connection with the termination of the defendant's employment as a police officer for the city. The city's chief of police, C, requested an internal affairs investigation of the defendant on the basis of his alleged insubordination and misappropriation of public funds after he enrolled in a training course at the city's expense even though his request to attend that training had been denied. Upon learning of this investigation, the defen- dant filed a complaint against C in which he alleged a pattern of retalia- tory conduct. An independent consultant, R, was hired to conduct the internal affairs investigation of the defendant, and he concluded, in relevant part, that the insubordination allegation was substantiated. The city hired an attorney, A, to investigate the defendant's allegations against C. A concluded that the totality of the evidence did not support, and in many instances was contradictory to, a finding of retaliation by C. As a result of A's findings, the city manager placed the defendant on administrative leave and requested that an internal affairs investigation be conducted regarding the defendant's allegations against C. R was retained to act as an independent hearing officer. R reviewed the results of A's investigation and determined that many of the defendant's allega- tions against C were not made in good faith and that some were know- ingly false, and that the defendant violated certain police department rules and an order pertaining to topics such as accountability, dishonesty and retaliatory conduct. Upon R's recommendation, the city terminated the defendant's employment. The defendant's union filed a grievance on behalf of the defendant, which was submitted to arbitration. After a hearing, the arbitration panel made numerous factual findings and issued its award, which stated that the defendant's termination had been for just cause. The city filed an application with the tria