News

Peabody's dozing dispatcher to get his job back

By Stacie N. Galang
Staff writer
Published: April 1, 2008

PEABODY — The three-year legal battle to keep sacked firefighter John Brophy Jr. from returning to the Fire Department ended quietly with a decision by the state appeals court.

The city is now negotiating Brophy's reinstatement, Mayor Michael Bonfanti confirmed yesterday.

The court's March 19 decision is the latest to favor Brophy, who was fired in May 2005 after a series of infractions that culminated with his sleeping through a 911 call. The panel upheld arbitrator Robert O'Brien's earlier ruling, which deemed the city's decision to fire Brophy too harsh.

Bonfanti said he had not seen an official decision and deferred additional questions to Assistant City Solicitor Daniel Cocuzzo, who could not be reached yesterday afternoon.

Brophy's former attorney, Neil Rossman, said previously his client would be entitled to back pay, but it was unclear as of yesterday what, if any, salary the firefighter might receive.

His current lawyer, Paul T. Hynes, refused to comment yesterday. A woman answering the phone at his law office said it is not Hynes' policy to speak with the press.

Messages left for Brophy yesterday were not returned by press time.

But James Lendall, president of the firefighters union, welcomed an end to the legal battles.

"I hope this is it," Lendall said. "I hope this is the end of it. It's been three years."

Bonfanti fired Brophy after he slept through a March 2005 emergency call from the father of a 6-month-old with breathing troubles. Brophy slept through 15 calls from the police that night, and officers had to sound their sirens and pound on the fire station's locked doors to rouse him. The baby survived.

The missed call was not the firefighter's first infraction. He had a physical altercation with a Peabody fire captain and had failed a drug test, which was eventually tossed out because the testing method had not been agreed upon by the union.

Brophy fought his termination with the arbitrator and won. When the city challenged the arbitrator's ruling in Superior Court and lost, the city took it to the appeals court.

The firefighter's failed drug test has had far-reaching effects on the city's firefighters, who must now submit to random drug testing, as well as drug testing after an incident and for cause.

"We had a case. We lost that battle," the mayor said yesterday. "However, I do believe we won the war. We did get the drug testing, which will preclude drug problems like this from happening. That was a very important victory."

Lendall said firefighters have not spoken out against the drug testing.

Fire Chief Steven Pasdon took a neutral stance on news of Brophy's return, saying only that the firefighter's failed drug test brought the issue to the forefront.

"There's no winner. There's no loser," he said. "It's a process, and that's what happened."

Pasdon said Brophy, now 45, would be welcomed back. The chief was not sure where the firefighter would be assigned but said he would undergo training like any other employee who had been away from the job.

"We have to have some minimum benchmarks to meet before we put him in a very perilous position," Pasdon said.

He said that while it's uncommon, firefighters have returned to duty after years away.