Chapel Hill to re-examine fired employee grievance policies

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said Kevin Lee Thompson was a police officer. He was a public works employee. The article has been amended to reflect this change, and The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

Chapel Hill is re-examining its grievance policies following the criticism of several high-profile firings of town employees.

The issue stems from two firings upheld by town manager Roger Stancil, which were in opposition to recommendations made by the town’s Personnel Appeals Committee.

Earlier this month, Rick Armstrong, a business agent with the Teamsters Local 391 union, filed a petition with the town council that would give the committee — not Stancil — the final authority on whether to fire an employee.

The committee includes volunteers from Chapel Hill and examines disciplinary issues and employee claims of wrongful termination.

Under the current process, fired employees appeal to the committee, which hears the case and advises the town manager, but does not have the final say in employee terminations.

If the manager’s decision does not match the committee’s, he must explain his reasoning.

Last year, Chapel Hill Police Department officer Chris King was fired after using sick leave to take a vacation. Though the appeals committee unanimously decided he should be rehired, Stancil upheld his firing.

Recently, Stancil also upheld the firing of public works employee Kevin Lee Thompson, whom the appeals committee again unanimously ruled should not have been fired for accepting personal payment for work he did using town equipment while on duty.

The town council now plans to re-examine the appeals process in upcoming meetings.

Armstrong, who said his branch of the Teamsters represents about 40 Chapel Hill police officers, said the current process is unfair to town employees.

“I think when you have a process like that, not only is it a poor process, but it discourages people from filing a grievance,” Armstrong said.

King is among the officers represented by Teamsters Local 391. Armstrong said he has spoken to many Chapel Hill employees who are now interested in joining a union after King’s firing.

“I’ve spoken with firefighters, public works employees, and they have shown interest in either joining the Teamsters or another union,” he said.

The council will discuss Armstrong’s petition at a meeting in the coming weeks.

Councilman Lee Storrow, who acts as council liaison for the committee, said the current process allows the manager to incorporate committee recommendations into his decisions.

“I know our manager definitely considers the thoughts of the personnel committee as he’s making his final decisions,” Storrow said.

“I know that our manager, based on the current conversations in town, is definitely thinking about how our appeals process works and is contemplating if there are ways to adapt the current process.”

Chapel Hill resident Eugene Farrar has volunteered with the Personnel Appeals Committee for about a year. Though he would not comment on any specific case, he did say the committee’s recommendations should factor into Stancil’s decisions.

“I think we should have more of an impact on the decisions,” Farrar said. “I mean, that’s why we’re there — to give the town another perspective on these decisions.”

He added that as volunteers, serving on the committee is a significant time commitment for members. He said it was meaningful to him when he could tell his work was having an effect.

“It encourages us to continue to do what we do if we see that we are having some kind of impact on decision making,” he said.

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.