By Mike Gangloff
The Roanoke Times
ROANOKE, Va. — A Roanoke fire captain who was fired after an ambulance crew member accused him of having sex with her during a work shift will return to his job today, with some back pay, a city grievance panel ruled this week.
Dennis Croft, a captain before his firing in June, will return to work as a first lieutenant, a demotion accompanied by a pay cut of about 5 percent, said John Loeschen an attorney with Roanoke Firefighters Local Union 1132. The decision was made by a grievance panel that heard Croft’s case on Monday, Loeschen said.
Croft unsuccessfully sued his accuser, former girlfriend Deborah Van Ness, for defamation after they broke up and she told the city fire chief that she and Croft had sex in the firehouse in April 2010. Croft said that while the two had a sexual relationship, they had kept it to off-duty hours.
Loeschen said the argument he made Monday to the grievance panel was that Croft’s case was “a he said, she said” and that “if you decide you can terminate someone just based on an accusation, with no other proof, that’s a really dangerous precedent.”
The panel’s 2-1 decision was basically a ruling that city Fire Chief David Hoback did not have enough evidence last year to justify firing Croft, Loeschen said.
“Loosely translated, I guess that means they didn’t believe Van Ness,” Loeschen said.
Loeschen said Croft will receive back pay from June to November. The grievance panel agreed with the city that after November, any delay in holding the hearing was because of Croft’s challenge to the makeup of the grievance panel, so he should bear the price for that, Loeschen said.
Croft filed a lawsuit seeking to change how the city chooses grievance panels. Roanoke selects all three members of the panels that hear personnel disputes. Croft argued that a method used elsewhere in Virginia would be more fair, with the city choosing one panelist, the employee the other, and a third picked jointly.
In April, a Roanoke Circuit Court judge ruled against Croft in the grievance panel lawsuit. His appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court is pending.
Since his dismissal, Croft had worked in a part-time administrative position at a Lynchburg hospital, Loeschen said.
Assistant City Attorney Timothy Spencer, who handled the case for the city, could not be contacted Tuesday.
Republished with permission from the Roanoke Times.