He 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.
Lynnette Ballato Dinkler, an attorney for the Butler Twp. Board of Trustees, said the board would appeal the ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court.
“Public employees, who work for the taxpayers, should still be required to bring common sense to work,” she wrote in response to the court’s ruling. “No employer, neither public nor private, has access to a crystal ball to enable it to write handbooks that will remove the everyday need to use common sense at work in order to end all conceivable workplace abuses.”
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, non-pornographic 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. They found the matter should be sent back to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court to vacate the trustees’ decision.
The appellate court found that the trustees’ decision to repeat their vote on disciplinary action against Bowman and other firefighters in open session after initially voting on the matter in executive session was not improper.
Friday’s ruling came one day after Butler Twp. filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court a notice of appeal and motion for a stay in the State Employment Relations Board case involving two other firefighters who also were terminated.
Three weeks ago, SERB ordered firefighters Angela Rice and Richard Nihizer reinstated with back pay because they were fired more for their union activities than improper computer use. Rice is president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 4491 and Nihizer, the local’s vice president.
Rice, Nihizer and Bowman were among 10 township firefighters accused of viewing and/or downloading inappropriate material while on duty. Three others were suspended without pay — Lt. Brian Sowers and firefighter Jim Petry for 10 days, and firefighter John Wilt for six days.
Four others — Lt. Andrew Ehrhart and firefighters Warren Edmondson, Jason Holfinger and Ryan Havenar — resigned prior to disciplinary hearings.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2094 or mkissell@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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