Public Employers May Place Criminally Charged Employees on Unpaid Administrative Leave
Photo by: Klaus
In an arbitration award issued late last year by Arbitrator Stephen F. Befort, the Minneapolis Special School District # 1, argued it was justified in placing a teacher on an unpaid administrative leave while criminal charges of third degree assault were pending against the teacher. Ultimately, the teacher pled guilty to the third degree assault charges, and the school district terminated his employment for conduct unbecoming a teacher.
The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Union filed a grievance claiming the school district violated state statute and the collective bargaining agreement, when it placed the teacher on unpaid administrative leave prior to his discharge. Arbitrator Befort determined the state statute wasn’t applicable in this case, and the collective bargaining agreement was unclear. He relied on the parties past practice, which showed over the years the school district had previously placed 25 employees charged with criminal offenses on unpaid administrative leave, in accordance with district policy. Five of those previous employees were members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and no grievances were raised in those cases.
An interesting aside that wasn’t raised by the school district in this case but could have been, is the United States Supreme Court case of Gilbert v. Homar. The Court ruled, “[t]he State has a significant interest in immediately suspending employees charged with felonies who occupy positions of public trust and visibility, such as police officers. While this interest could have been accommodated by suspending respondent with pay, the Constitution does not require the government to give an employee charged with a felony paid leave at taxpayer expense…”
Public employers should consider the option of placing an employee charged with a felony on unpaid administrative leave while determining how to proceed with the employee’s future employment. Taxpayers should not have to compensate an employee who is facing felony charges.
