Arbitrator rules Oakdale cop was fired unjustly

The Oakdale officer accused of insubordination is back on the beat after evidence didn't back up the alleged behavior.

By KEVIN GILES, Star Tribune

Last update: October 20, 2009 - 11:29 PM

An Oakdale police officer who was fired last spring is back in uniform after a labor arbitrator ordered his reinstatement.

Sean Coffey lost his patrol job in March after Chief William Sullivan fired him for insubordination. Arbitrator Anthony Orman, in a 26-page brief, said that Coffey's termination wasn't warranted based on evidence and testimony. Coffey must be reinstated with pay for time lost since his dismissal.

Coffey will, however, receive a letter of reprimand for failing to follow orders in filing a theft report and a 40-hour suspension because he had received prior warning from supervisors that failure to follow orders would lead to more severe discipline, Orman wrote.

The Coffey case brought turmoil in Oakdale's police department into public view after some officers accused Sullivan of a pattern of harassment and alleged that Coffey was the latest victim. The union that represents most of the patrol officers, investigators and school resource officers, Law Enforcement Labor Services Local 197, sent a letter notifying the city of a no-confidence vote in Sullivan's leadership.

Sullivan, who joined the Oakdale force in 1988, denied the harassment and said disagreements started with his "by-the-book" management style and an unwillingness of some younger officers to accept constructive criticism.

The chief subsequently asked for a management study by the Police Executive Research Forum. He said the study will be made public by Thanksgiving.

"We felt termination was appropriate based on all of the facts available at the time," Sullivan said Tuesday. "The arbitrator made a decision that was different than ours, and that is his prerogative."

Union backs decision

Coffey, who returned to his job on Monday, declined to comment Tuesday. But Brooke Bass, an attorney for the union, said the decision is what the union wanted. "The union believes there was not just cause to terminate Sean," she said.

In his brief, Orman said that Coffey's career in Oakdale started in 1999 with positive performance reviews. By 2002, Orman wrote, Coffey began to receive criticism for difficult relations with sergeants who supervised him.

Coffey's termination stemmed from a March 2008 incident when his supervisors alleged he fouled up a report about a stolen license plate and then "tried to cover up his conscious failure to follow policy by telling a series of lies," according to the city's position as described in Orman's brief.

"For a police officer this would be considered by most a stigmatizing behavior," Orman wrote.

But Orman wrote that the city failed to prove that Coffey lied and ordered that his employment record be expunged of any references to lying. Orman also said in his findings that two supervising sergeants, Rolf Hagland and Scott Olson, hadn't clearly documented what really happened with Coffey's mishandling of the theft report.

Sullivan said Tuesday that both sergeants are "excellent supervisors and honorable people" and said both offered honest and professional testimony.

Coffey's 40-hour suspension was already served before his firing and was without pay, Sullivan said.

Kevin Giles • 612-673-4432

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