RSSRuling says fired deputy should've gotten her job back
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YAKIMA, Wash. -- An appeals court says a Yakima County sheriff's deputy should have been put back on the job after an arbitrator ruled that she was unfairly dismissed.
Since being fired in 2003, former Deputy Jan Bartleson's case has wound through a variety of appeals.
On Thursday, the state Court of Appeals' Division Three, based in Spokane, ruled that the county should have followed an arbitrator's decision to return Bartleson to duty. The arbitrator had ruled that the county could release Bartleson, but only if she was awarded back and future pay.
Instead, the county took the case to Yakima County Superior Court, arguing that the arbitrator exceeded his authority and that returning Bartleson to the street would endanger the public.
When the county didn't abide by the arbitrator's ruling, the Yakima County Law Enforcement Officers Guild, a union representing deputies, filed a lawsuit in 2008.
The case started in 2001 when Bartleson was involved in a patrol car crash and was briefly suspended. She was found fit to return to work, but she claimed that her relationship with Sheriff Ken Irwin deteriorated, and she eventually filed a human rights complaint with the state.
In 2003, school officials and community members made complaints, that were not specified in the latest ruling, about her following her discussions with school officials regarding her child.
That led to a second fitness examination. This time, the psychological review determined she was not qualified to return to the sheriff's office.
However, Bartleson and the guild claimed Irwin had passed on disprove complaints against her in order to build the case for dismissal and then did not provide a required hearing prior to discharge.
The appeals ruling states that arbitrators' rulings are generally supposed to be followed. The county did not meet the burden for proving that the arbitrator had overstepped his bounds, according to the ruling.
Terry Austin, the county's chief civil deputy prosecutor, said he expected that Irwin and attorneys handling the case would meet soon with county commissioners to decide how to proceed.
The county could ask the state Supreme Court to review the ruling, but the justices do not have to automatically hear the case.
Union attorney Jim Cline could not be reached for comment.
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