Convictions, Terminations and Appeals

What should happen to a firefighter who is terminated after being convicted of a criminal offense, when the conviction is overturned? That is the question facing the fire department on the island of Jamaica, but there’s a catch: The 2009 conviction was reversed in 2020.

Dwain Brown was a firefighter for the Jamaica Fire Brigade. He was terminated on March 1, 2010 following the fire brigade being informed of his November, 2009 conviction. The conviction was appealed, but it was not overturned until 2020 at which point Brown, his attorney and his union sought his reinstatement with backpay.

According to his union, the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU), the fire brigade’s own rules prohibit terminating an employee for a criminal offense until the member is convicted and his/her appeals have been exhausted. The Jamacia Gleaner quoted from Section 35 of the Jamaica Fire Brigade Regulations as saying:

• Where criminal proceedings have been instituted against a member, disciplinary proceedings upon any grounds arising out of the criminal charge shall not be taken until after judgment has been given, and the time allowed for an appeal from the judgment has expired, and where a member after conviction has appealed, disciplinary proceedings shall not be taken until after the withdrawal of, or determination of the appeal.

The Fire Brigade Commissioner, Stewart Beckford, claims the brigade was not aware that an appeal had even been filed when it fired Brown in 2010. He asserts that Brown attended a meeting to discuss the charges prior to his termination, and there was nothing in the record of the meeting to indicate that an appeal was mentioned. [Side bar: was that “meeting” an interview, a casual meeting, a formal meeting, or a hearing?]. Also complicating the matter was the fact that the person assigned to monitor appeals, a senior officer, has since passed away.

Brown denies receiving any sort of notice of a hearing, or even that an actual hearing ever took place. Rather, according to the Jamacia Gleaner, he was “walking in the building one day when he was called into a room and told what steps the JFB would be taking.” The news report has more details for those who may be interested.

So now the question is, should he be reinstated, should he receive full backpay, or might a settlement resolve matter?  For now the formal position of the Jamaica Fire Brigade is Brown that is not entitled to reinstatement.

So what should happen? Feel free to comment below:

Also we have our final Managing Disciplinary Challenges in the Fire Service Class coming up on December 11-12, 2024 in Marlton, New Jersey. Seats are still available.