Attorney Brian Maser successfully defended the City of Leominster in arbitration of a dispute with the City’s patrol officers’ union relative to the Police Chief’s decision to place a patrol officer on leave pending a fitness for duty exam and the continuation of the officer’s leave after the officer was found to be unfit for duty. At arbitration, the Union argued that the decision to schedule the exam was unlawfully motivated, the City’s physician’s determination was not supported by his findings, and the officer’s leave period was neither reasonable nor justified. In denying the grievance, the arbitrator credited the Chief’s testimony relative to his reasons for ordering the exam, including his observations of the officer’s diminishing performance and negative comments the officer made to others over the course of several months, and concluded that the Chief’s actions relative to the officer’s leave were at all times reasonable and appropriate.
