CITY WORKER FIRED FOR SMOKING POT CAN GET JOB BACK

Hudson - The city must reinstate a former snowplow driver who was fired
after testing positive for marijuana because officials failed to develop
proper dismissal procedures, according to a judge's ruling.

Summit County Common Pleas Judge James E. Murphy ruled last week that
Stephen D. Brock, 46, was illegally fired and should be reinstated.

Brock, who is now the electric superintendent for the village of
Blanchester near Wilmington, Ohio, said the decision vindicates him.

He said he may return to work in Hudson.

"I thought all along if an impartial judge heard the evidence I would be
reinstated," Brock said.

Murphy's ruling upheld a magistrate's decision in June. The city's
personnel and advisory board had backed the decision to fire Brock in 1999.

"Obviously, we are disappointed with the court's decision," said lawyer
David Posner, who represented Hudson.

"The magistrate did find that he tested positive for marijuana."

Brock is entitled to more than $80,000 in back pay, vacations and sick pay,
said his lawyer, S. David Worhatch.

Brock earned more than $40,000 per year during his three years with Hudson.

"If they want my client to bargain away his reinstatement, we may be able
to work something out," Worhatch said.

But Posner said the court ruling may not entitle Brock to back pay.

According to Hudson City Manager Michael Morton's 1999 testimony at a
hearing,Brock admitted smoking marijuana over the Christmas holidays.

The hearing was before the personnel and advisory appeals board. But
Worhatch said Brock never admitted to smoking marijuana.

Brock was fired by Morton, who said the city has a zero-tolerance policy
for employees who use controlled substances.

The court ruled that Morton did not follow the proper steps for adopting
rules by which to fire employees. According to the city charter, Morton
should have proposed rules to the city's personnel and advisory appeals
board and the board then should have made recommendations to City Council.

"They fired him for operating a city vehicle [while] under the influence,"
Worhatch said. "But the court didn't address that issue. The rules weren't
properly adopted. Even if the rules had been properly adopted, then the
worse that could have happened was verbal counseling and a warning."

But Posner said the city followed proper procedures for adopting the rules
by which to fire employees.

Brock had also filed an unfair labor practice charge against the city with
the State Employment Relations Board, claiming he was targeted for testing
and fired instead of disciplined because he was an organizer of an
unsuccessful effort to unionize. The state dismissed that case, Worhatch said.