BACK-PAY ISSUE Magistrate rules against 2 police officers

A lawyer for the officers said she will appeal.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A court magistrate has ruled against two Youngstown policemen -- one current and one former -- who were seeking back pay for time they were off the job in 2001.
One of them also wants his job back.
Atty. Sarah Thomas Kovoor, who represents the officers, had not yet seen the decision by Magistrate Timothy G. Welsh and could not comment on it. She did say, though, that after she reviews the decision she will file objections and ask that it be reviewed by a common pleas judge.
The judge will either affirm, reject or amend the magistrate's ruling.
Christopher Lombard and Mark Rakocy were arrested in March 2001 on charges of roughing up and robbing a Struthers man in the men's room of a bar in the city's Uptown district. They were off duty and out of uniform at the time.
They went to trial and were found innocent by a common pleas court jury, but were later fired for violating the police department's rules of conduct. Each filed a separate grievance through the police union, arguing that his termination was unjustified.
Each sought reinstatement to his job with back pay for the time they were off work while their cases were pending.
Arbiter's ruling
An independent arbiter ruled in 2003 that Rakocy should be reinstated, which he was, but a separate arbiter ruled a week later that Lombard should not. According to court records, arbiters also ruled that neither man should get back pay.
Those arbitration rulings were appealed to common pleas court, resulting in Welsh's decision this week. Lombard asked for reinstatement and both were seeking back pay.
He ruled that under Ohio law, neither Lombard nor Rakocy had legal standing to lodge an appeal with common pleas court because they were not individually named in the actions before the arbiters. He said the police union, not the individuals, should have filed the administrative appeals.
He cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says by submitting a dispute to grievance proceeding and arbitration, an employee "called upon the collective power of his or her fellow members and ceased to stand alone."
He said terms of the police union's labor agreement with the city also specify that the union is the designated representative in legal proceedings.
bjackson@vindy.com