Appeals court rules city was justified in firing Rummel

TACOMA, Wash. -- The city of Yakima was justified in firing an officer who union leaders said had become a pawn in the city's push for drug testing of the police force, a state appellate court panel ruled this week.

The long-awaited ruling was the latest development in a series of personnel cases involving Yakima police officers and claims that Chief Sam Granato favors some department members while targeting others. Other rulings have also cleared Granato of wrongdoing.

In a decision issued Tuesday, the three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals found that Officer Mike Rummel's misconduct led to his firing.

"We conclude that substantial evidence supports (the Public Employment Relations Commission's) decision that Rummel's violation of the last-chance agreement, rather than union animus, was the substantial motivating factor behind his termination," according to the ruling, written by Chief Judge Marywave Van Deren.

Acting on the recommendation of police officials, City Manager Dick Zais fired Rummel in 2005 after a city investigation determined he had violated the terms of a last-chance agreement following a drunken driving arrest in 2002.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Zais said he hoped the "definitive" ruling would put the case to rest, adding that the union and the city need to move on.

Union attorney Jim Cline of Seattle could not be reached for comment.

Rummel, 41, committed suicide in February, about a month after the state Court of Appeals had ruled against him
in a related case.

Even after he died, union leaders pressed on with the legal question of whether Rummel should have been fired four years ago.
They argued in court filings that the case dealt with larger management issues that could affect the entire union.

Union leaders testified that Granato told them during a meeting that he would be forced to fire Rummel if the union did not agree to random drug testing for the police force.

Granato said he never made that statement.

After a hearing examiner found that the city should retain Rummel, Yakima appealed to the Public Employment Relations Commission, which upheld the decision to fire the officer. The union then appealed to Thurston County Superior Court, which upheld the PERC decision, resulting in the union's appeal to the state Court of Appeals in Tacoma.

The city still faces several lawsuits filed by officers or civilian employees over Granato's personnel decisions.