COLUMBUS Ex-Boardman cop can't appeal firing, Ohio court rules

A trustee said the officer would have had a position if he had won his suit.
By MICHELE C. HLADIK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Former Boardman police officer Andre Leon will not get the chance to appeal his firing and try to get his job back.
In a decision released Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously agreed a grievance arbitrated between an employer and a union under a collective bargaining agreement cannot be appealed in court unless the collective bargaining agreement specifically gives an individual employee the right.
"An aggrieved worker whose employment is governed by a collective bargaining agreement will generally be deemed to have relinquished his or her right to act independently of the union in all matters related to or arising from the contract, except to the limited extent that the agreement explicitly provides to the contrary," wrote Justice Alice Robie Resnick in the court's written decision.
Leon was fired in 2000 from the police department after he failed to meet department and township policy requiring him to live within the township.
Arguments
During oral arguments before the high court in October, Leon's attorney, Brian Moriarty of Cleveland, said Leon is entitled to take the case before a trial court because of errors when the matter was in arbitration.
He said the arbitrator of the case said there was no violation, but still placed requirements on Leon, including that he and his family move into the township within 60 days.
He said the arbitrator also exceeded his authority with the "last-chance agreement" imposed on his client.
"That's kind of unheard of," Moriarty said.
During oral arguments, several justices questioned whether Leon had the right to take individual legal action since he was a member of a union.
Leon was a member of the Ohio Patrolman Benevolent Association and was represented by the group during the arbitration.
The court addressed this issue in its decision:
"Employees are bound by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement even though they are not actual signatories to the agreement. They are, in fact, the intended beneficiaries of the agreement," Justice Resnick wrote.
Youngstown attorney James Messenger, who represented the township during oral arguments, said Leon was adequately represented and the arbitrator's decision should stand.
He argued that when an employee is represented by a union he or she gives up the right to bring legal action.
No further action
According to court documents, the union agreed to the arbitration and did not wish to take the matter any further.
During oral arguments, Justice Stratton and other justices questioned whether the arbitrator may have denied the back pay because of the "duplicitousness" Leon showed by trying to cover up his true address.
Court documents filed by Messenger state Leon tried to hide his true address by using a false address in Mahoning County when he actually lived in Trumbull County.
The documents said he also set up a Boardman telephone service and had the calls forwarded to his actual address and registered to vote in Mahoning County.
In addition to the return of his job, Leon was seeking back pay for work missed between the time he was fired and the completion of the arbitration.
Boardman Trustee Tom Costello said a position in the department would have been made available for Leon had he prevailed in the case. Now, he said, officials are just happy the four-year case has come to an end.
Leon could not be reached to comment Wednesday.