Mediator rules against Warren officer

The sergeant is a 38-year veteran of the department.

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — A police sergeant who appealed his 50-hour unpaid suspension for falsifying time sheets has lost his arbitration.

A mediator has ruled against Sgt. Michael Albanese, who argued that the city violated the city’s collective bargaining agreement and policy and procedures manual by issuing the punishment.

Albanese was one of three supervisers punished for their actions regarding fellow officer Sgt. Emanuel Nites, who left work for part of his shift 14 times in January, February and March 2009 to attend youth basketball games. Nites was watching games and coaching while he was supposed to be working

Nites agreed to take three months off without pay last fall as punishment for his time-card infractions, plus a later accusation that he improperly called off sick July 31, the night before his son played a baseball game in southern Ohio.

Albanese, a 38-year department veteran, falsified time sheets regarding Nites’ work hours March 5. Two other supervisers falsified time sheets on the 13 other occasions, the city said.

An internal investigation showed that Nites left work March 5 at 5:34 p.m. and returned at 8:54 p.m. after watching his daughter’s high-school basketball game in Solon. Albanese submitted a time sheet authorizing Nites to be paid for the entire shift.