Firefighter: Refusal to work on mayor’s campaign led to demotion

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Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan

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September 9, 2010

Attorney representing city says galligan not involved in a campaign

By MATT THACKER Matt.Thacker@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Thu Sep 09, 2010, 02:18 AM EDT

JEFFERSONVILLE — Former Jeffersonville Fire Marshal Jason Sharp has filed a grievance against the fire department alleging he was demoted because he refused to work full-time while on duty for Mayor Tom Galligan’s re-election campaign.

The city has disputed Sharp’s allegations, claiming that Galligan has not announced he is seeking re-election and thus there is no campaign.

According to the grievance filed Aug. 10 and read to the Jeffersonville Fire Merit Commission at its meeting Sept. 1, Chief Tony Harrod and Deputy Chief Shawn Grant called Sharp into a private meeting May 25 and asked if he would like to come out from Deputy Chief Tony Decker’s control in Fire Prevention and work full-time for the mayor’s campaign. According to the documents, Sharp believed this was unethical and possibly illegal, so he refused.

He reported the meeting to Decker.

On June 1, Sharp was reportedly called into a meeting with Harrod by Deputy Chief Joe Lee. Sharp claims Harrod asked why he had told Decker about their prior meeting. He said Harrod told him that he was “just kidding” about having Sharp campaign for the mayor.

Sharp was reassigned July 26 and removed as fire marshal, and on Aug. 4, his rank and pay was reduced from major to sergeant, according to the grievance. He was never given a reason for either decision, according to the paperwork.

The Fire Union Executive Board met Aug. 12 and determined that Sharp’s claims had valid basis for moving forward with the grievance procedures. Fire Union President David Kaskie deferred all questions to Sharp’s attorney.

“He’s being punished because he chose not to associate politically,” Sharp’s Indianapolis-based attorney, Matthew Langenbacher, said.

The merit commission determined it will not hear the grievance, deciding it is a staff-level position appointed by the chief and therefore a contractual issue not under their authority. The fire commissioners recommended the matter go before arbitration.

Langenbacher said they are still looking into whether to take the case through arbitration first or bypass that avenue and file a federal lawsuit and let the federal court decide whether they need any administrative remedies first. He said the arbitration would be for a grievance about a job action, while the lawsuit would determine whether there was a violation of the constitution.

“There’s a strong possibility that we may take the matter to federal court on a freedom-of-association claim,” Langenbacher said.

Harrod and Galligan deferred all questions to attorney Larry Wilder, while Grant had no comment.

Wilder, representing the city in this case, declined to comment directly about the grievance.

“We will not litigate this matter in the press. The issues that firefighter raised will be addressed under oath in the courthouse before an arbitration panel,” he said.

Wilder said Galligan has not announced if he is running for mayor again, so he does not believe Galligan would have asked anyone to join his campaign.

“Tom Galligan has no campaign, so it’s very difficult to understand how someone has been asked to participate in something that doesn’t exist,” Wilder said.

Langenbacher said Sharp has been with the fire department for 10 years and has never been disciplined.

“The thing that makes me question whether the chief was just kidding is I don’t know why one would even joke about that. I don’t see how that’s funny,” Langenbacher said. “What’s less funny is that not too long after, he was removed from that position.”

Langenbacher said Sharp wants to be reinstated to his former rank and pay grade of major and to be reinstated as fire marshal.

Admitting he has limited knowledge about campaign laws, Langenbacher said it would seem inappropriate for an on-duty chief to ask a firefighter to campaign for someone.

“I don’t have any knowledge of any firefighters being asked to work for Galligan or work for Mike Moore or that have been asked to work for Rob Waiz,” Wilder said.

Waiz and Moore are also considered possible mayoral candidates. Wilder said it would not be inappropriate for firefighters to decide to work on any politician’s campaign.

“In the United States, a person has the right to free speech,” Wilder said. “They can choose to work for a political candidate because that’s their constitutional right.”

Langenbacher said they are awaiting official notice from the merit commission that it declined to hear the case before proceeding.