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By Margo Rutledge Kissell, Staff Writer Updated 2:10 AM Wednesday, March 17, 2010

BUTLER TWP., Montgomery County — A Montgomery County Common Pleas Court judge has upheld a State Employee Relations Board decision to return two fired Butler Twp. firefighters to work.

Judge Connie S. Price on Monday, March 15, upheld an earlier SERB ruling that ordered Angela Rice and Richard Nihizer reinstated with back pay because they were fired more for their union activities than any improper computer use.

Rice called it “another victory” for her and Nihizer.

She hopes the court ruling will help return the two back to the Butler Twp. Fire Department, “to the community and the job we both loved and worked for several years.

“Not only has SERB determined there was substantial evidence in an Unfair Labor Practice committed by the Township,” Rice said, “but Montgomery County Courts also found substantial evidence.”

The township can appeal the decision. Joe Flanagan, township administrator, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The Oct. 29, 2009, SERB order said Rice, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 4491, and Nihizer, vice president, were due back pay and benefits from Jan. 14, 2008.

Rice and Nihizer were among 10 firefighters accused of viewing and/or downloading inappropriate material while on duty.

On March 10, the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear a Butler Twp. appeal in the case of another terminated firefighter, Ralph Bowman.

The Ohio 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 2 that Bowman should not have been fired for using township computers for personal use during down time at the firehouse because township employees were given “no meaningful guidance” on what was appropriate.

Bowman was a part-time firefighter and emergency medical technician when he was fired in 2008 for engaging in “improper conduct” after a township investigation found he allegedly watched seven violent videos, military videos and one that contained sexually explicit language but was not pornographic.

Bowman admitted watching only one video, “Felony Fights,” which he claimed had some training value. He said he had shared his computer password with other firefighters.

The appellate court said the township did not provide guidance “as to where it drew the line between appropriate and inappropriate content” except for a Code of Ethics, which instructed township employees that they were “bound by the highest standards of morality.”

“In the absence of additional guidance, the Township could not discipline Bowman for accessing legal, nonpornographic videos on the computer, and the trial court abused its discretion in affirming the Trustees’ decision to terminate Bowman,” Judge Jeffrey E. Froelich wrote. Judges James A. Brogan and Mike Fain concurred.

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