Kansas Police Officer Awarded Over $900,000 after Being Fired For Sleeping On Duty By Jerry L. Pigsley and Wesley A. Goranson, Harding & Shultz, P.C., L.L.O.
employment did Plaintiff ever file a grievance with the city regarding any of these incidents.
Like their private counterparts, municipalities are subject to, and must be in compliance with, a myriad of federal, state, and local employment laws. Municipalities must ensure that they are in compliance with such laws when making hiring, termination, or promotional decisions involving their employees or be prepared to face the consequences. Recently, the city of McPherson, Kansas (“McPherson”) found out the hard way that failure to comply with employment laws can be costly. On October 14, 2014, a federal jury awarded $921,657 to a former police officer who successfully alleged that the city terminated his employment in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (42 U.S.C. § 1983), the 14th Amendment (Due Process), and state wage laws. (See Michaels v. City of McPherson, D. Kan., No. 6:13-cv-01128, jury verdict 10/14/14).
Also relevant, Plaintiff’s stepdaughter was diagnosed with a serious health condition in 2009. Plaintiff requested FMLA leave for two days in May 2012 so that he may accompany his stepdaughter to Kansas City, Missouri for a sleep-deprived electroencephalogram (“EEG”). The current police chief denied Plaintiff’s request for FMLA leave because of a mandatory departmental training to be held on the first day of the requested leave; the same day Plaintiff planned to travel with his stepdaughter in order to adhere to a strict sleep protocol instructed by the doctor. Plaintiff attended the training and complained to the police chief that he should have been allowed FMLA leave when the training ran long. After returning from the doctor’s appointment in Kansas City, Plaintiff was suspended for two days without pay for “insubordination” and “conduct unbecoming an officer.” Plaintiff did not file a grievance for either the FMLA denial or suspension.
The Facts McPherson employed Officer Mathew Michaels (“Plaintiff”) for approximately nine years until his termination on July 16, 2012. During a period from April 2006 to July 2007, Plaintiff was responsible for three atfault motor vehicle accidents prompting the former police chief to place him on a one year evaluation. In August 2010 Plaintiff was suspended without pay for repeated violations of sleeping while working the third shift. Subsequently, he was again suspended without pay and placed on six months’ probation for sleeping in his patrol car. After the last incident, Plaintiff sought treatment and was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. Plaintiff received medical treatment that prevented further incidents. Never during his
The incident that ultimately led to Plaintiff’s termination involved Plaintiff’s failure to obtain a surveillance tape of a shoplifting incident. Plaintiff admitted that he told his supervisor that the request was “stupid” because he had never previously been asked to obtain surveillance tapes under similar circumstances. Plaintiff was again suspended for insubordination, and the police chief recommended to the city that Plaintiff be terminated. The city acted upon the recommendation and terminated Plaintiff’s employment. The police chief cited numerous reasons for his recommendation including argumentativeness, sleeping on duty, and “numerous other circumstances and situations where [Plaintiff] was no longer viable to be a police officer.” Upon termination, Plaintiff requested that he be
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SOUTH DAKOTA MUNICIPALITIES
