VISITING JUDGE HEARS CASE OF FIRED YAKIMA POLICE OFFICER

Attorneys for the city of Yakima and its police union battled in
court Tuesday over an arbitrator's decision to reinstate a fired
officer in a longstanding case that the union contends was
retaliation for its refusal to go along with random drug testing of officers.

Officer Mike Rummel was fired in July 2005 for failing to comply with
a disciplinary agreement that followed a series of alcohol-related
incidents and contact with a former girlfriend.

The agreement went into effect after Rummel pleaded guilty to
negligent driving.

But a state arbitrator overturned Rummel's dismissal last January and
ordered reinstatement. The arbitrator concluded the termination
wasn't warranted because the city had failed to prove all aspects of
its case against the officer.

The city appealed the decision, resulting in Tuesday's hearing before
visiting Superior Court Judge E. Thompson Reynolds of Klickitat County.

The union countersued to enforce the decision and to obtain back pay
for Rummel.

Yakima County judges bowed out of the case to avoid conflicts of interest.

Reynolds reserved ruling on the city's appeal, promising at the end
of the two-hour hearing to enter an oral ruling at a later date, but
he did not indicate when.

The retaliation issue wasn't a part of Tuesday's hearing. That matter
is on appeal to Thurston County Superior Court.

The Yakima Police Patrolman's Association filed the appeal after a
state panel that deals with labor issues involving public employees
concluded Police Chief Sam Granato didn't fire Rummel as retaliation
over the drug testing issue.

The state Public Employment Relations Commission issued its ruling in May.

With only the arbitrator's decision before Thompson, Rocky Jackson,
attorney for the city, argued the arbitrator went beyond his
authority in ordering reinstatement.

He said the disciplinary agreement, described as a last-chance
agreement, is the only document at issue, and there was clear
evidence he violated it. He said the collective bargaining agreement
between the city and its police officers isn't relevant to the case.

"The record is clear he violated the agreement by violating
department orders," Jackson argued. "On that basis, the termination
is appropriate."

Jackson said there is no evidence that Granato recommended the firing
as retaliation over the drug testing issue.

But Jim Cline, a Seattle attorney representing the officers' union,
said the arbitrator was clearly within his authority, since the
last-chance agreement is an addendum to the union contract.

Cline said the arbitrator determined the reasons given for
termination, calling the ex-girlfriend after he had been ordered not
to and using his police badge to gain entry to a Yakima night spot,
were either not proven or didn't constitute a major violation.

"The arbitrator was within his jurisdiction to determine whether
discharge was motivated by something not in good faith and a
violation of the last-chance agreement," Cline said.

The arbitrator, Cline concluded, determined the city discriminated
against Rummel.