A city lawyer argued in court that an arbitrator who ruled that Syracuse should bring back a fired firefighter with lifelong diabetes acted beyond his powers, reports syracuse.com
John Williams, with the backing of the city’s fire union, has sued to get his job back with back pay after being removed from service in August 2011. That was a day after he admitted feeling light-headed at a fire scene due to low blood sugar.
Williams argued that his firing was “arbitrary and capricious” because the city and county did not follow civil service law — including giving him the right to challenge his removal.
The complex legal case has ramifications for anyone struggling to control a chronic disability in a dangerous line of work. Fire union president Paul Motondo and Fire Chief Paul Linnertz both attended today’s hearing in the old County Courthouse.
After listening to doctors, a non-binding arbitrator ruled last year that Williams was doing a better job of controlling his diabetes and should be returned to work.
But Assistant Corporation Counsel Romana Rabeler said in state Supreme Court today that the arbitrator wasn’t asked to decide that question. He was only to decide whether or not the city appropriately removed Williams in 2011 and officially suspended him in 2012.
“There’s no question he needed to be out on medical leave,” Rabeler said. She pointed to an episode in January 2008 in which Williams crashed his own car into a fire station after work.
“I don’t think there’s a question something had to be done at that point,” agreed Judge Walter Hafner Jr.
Williams’ lawyer, Nathaniel Lambright, noted that episode happened more than three years before the firefighter was suspended, and could never be proven to be diabetes-related. Williams’ own doctor cited the flu.
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