WASHINGTON — An arbitrator has ordered the D.C. fire department to reverse former Chief Kenneth Ellerbe’s demotion of a 33-year veteran over his handling of a disciplinary matter involving beer found in a firehouse.
The Washington Times reported that the ruling will reinstate Capt. Richard Sterne to the rank of battalion chief and require the city to reimburse him back pay for the three years since the demotion took effect.
The demotion stemmed from Capt. Sterne’s decision to reprimand, rather than suspend, two firefighters involved in a 2011 incident in which a resident delivered two 12-packs of beer to thank firefighters for extinguishing a fire at his home.
The firefighters declined to accept the beer, but the man left it at the station and firefighters put it in the firehouse’s refrigerator. Chief Ellerbe discovered the beer on a visit after being tipped off and closed the station to test all firefighters for alcohol consumption.
No firefighters were found to have been drinking.
“I knew I was right and I had faith that the system would prove it,” Capt. Sterne said. “But it’s an aggravating thing that it took the system this long.”
Capt. Sterne estimates that he is owed about $30,000 in back pay and likely will recoup an additional $30,000 in attorney fees for the case.
In the ruling, a judge wrote that Capt. Sterne did not violate any protocol and Chief Ellerbe “simply disagreed” with how he handled the disciplinary proceedings of two firefighters involved in the beer incident, according to the report.
“The fact that FEMS would seek to demote an employee who has enjoyed a near spotless tenure within its rank and without clearly articulating that his conduct violated a clear rule or regulation but rather was merely a disagreement about an amorphous situation cannot be tolerated by the OEA as it reviews this matter,” Administrative Judge Eric Robinson wrote in his ruling. “I find FEMS action inconsistent and it is entirely unclear to the undersigned why Chief Ellerbe chose to elevate the penalty from a reprimand to a demotion.”
Fire department spokesman Tim Wilson said the agency is evaluating its options before making a decision whether or not to appeal the ruling, according to the report.
Chief Ellerbe, who retired from the department last year, did not comment.