Chief Deputy Dave Duchak said Monday that Waymire was placed on leave after Cox “consulted with and received legal advice.”
Questions for Waymire about the leave were referred to her Fraternal Order of Police representative Barry Gray. He did not return a call or respond to an email seeking comment.
Duchak said the action was not associated with a complaint Waymire filed May 1 in U.S. District Court in Dayton against the sheriff’s office, in care of the county commissioners.
In the complaint, Waymire claims that for a decade between 2004 and April 2014, she was responsible for the department’s K-9 Officer Nero and was required to care for him and house him in her home seven days a week year ‘round.
During that time, the suit further claims, she was not paid one and one-half times her regular pay for hours worked each week in excess of 40 hours. This, the suit claims, was a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The suit seeks compensatory damages of an unspecified amount to “fully, fairly and justly compensate her for her damage and loss” along with other damages, interest, attorney fees and legal expense. A jury trial is requested.
County Commissioner Richard Cultice said Tuesday the commissioners had not been served with Waymire’s legal action but had been made aware a complaint was filed. He said he could not comment further.
Waymire has been with the department nearly 30 years. She was handler of its K-9 units until 2014 when her partner Nero retired. Another deputy now handles K-9 responsibilities.
In the May 1 letter signed by Cox, Waymire was told to turn in her department firearm and badge and address any questions to Major Steve Lord.
Duchak said the leave is pending “an upcoming predisciplinary conference.” He said Cox did not want to release any other information “to respect the process and in fairness to Tina.”
Duchak said the leave and predisciplinary conference have “absolutely nothing to do with the canine program or any dog.”
Waymire was given verbal counseling in early February for alleged actions during a Jan. 12 rescue of a dog from the Great Miami River in Troy.
An inter-office memo on the counseling showed the Troy fire department, Troy police and the county Animal Shelter responded to the call. Sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Tennant said he also heard Waymire on the radio at the bridge asking the countywide dispatch center to have the shelter call her cell phone. Waymire also questioned the location of a fire department rescue boat.
In the memo, Tennant noted he received an instant message from the dispatch center supervisor noting that Waymire’s assistance had not been requested by firefighters or police.
Lord said following that incident that the department appreciated Waymire’s efforts to help save the dog, but added employees also have policies that need to be followed.
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