DAYTON — The City of Dayton has filed an appeal after an arbitrator ruled that a fired police sergeant must be reinstated.
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As News Center 7 previously reported, the Dayton Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 44 filed a grievance on behalf of fired Dayton Police Department Sergeant Joseph Setty.
The grievance claims the department didn’t follow contract guidelines when firing him.
The grievance went to an independent arbitrator, who sided with the union and ordered Setty to be reinstated.
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The city of Dayton filed an appeal, asking a judge to vacate the arbitrator’s decision.
The city argues the arbitrator did not have the authority to modify Setty’s contract and only had the authority to determine whether it was appropriate for the city to place Setty on unpaid leave and whether there was cause for termination, according to court documents.
Setty was placed on paid leave in March 2023 after more than one woman accused him of sexual assault.
The Ohio BCI conducted a criminal investigation, and the Dayton Police Department did an internal investigation.
Setty pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of unlawful restraint and two misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct in May 2024.
“The Arbitrator simply ignored the plainly obvious dangers in allowing an individual who pled and was found guilty of restraining another of the person’s liberty, without privilege to do so, to remain in a position where he is tasked with restraining people routinely,” the city claims in court documents.
A Dayton spokesperson said they are unable to provide further comment as it involves personnel matters.
“We expected the appeal. I don’t like a lot of the narrative around it that is basically stemming from opinions and emotions and not facts and findings at this point, ” Dayton FOP President Sgt. Kyle Thomas said.
We will continue to follow this case.
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