News

Rehired Peabody dispatcher suspended by chief

By Matthew K. Roy
Staff Writer
Published: May 10, 2008

PEABODY — The firefighter who slept through a 911 call but recently won his job back in court has been suspended without pay.

Fire Chief Steve Pasdon yesterday confirmed that he has suspended John Brophy for a total of 12 days for failing to satisfy requirements of his reinstatement. The punishment is a combination of separate suspensions of three, four and five days.

Brophy is also scheduled to participate in a hearing before Mayor Michael Bonfanti on May 20. He could then be subject to additional punishment up to, and including, termination depending on the outcome, Dan Cocuzzo, the city's lawyer, said yesterday.

Brophy was fired in May 2005 after he slept through a 911 call while working as the department's dispatcher. Three years later, on March 19, a state Appeals Court upheld the ruling of an arbitrator who found that punishment too harsh. The decision gave Brophy his job back and the opportunity to collect lost wages from the city.

Almost two months later, Brophy still hasn't returned to work.

"He was scheduled to come back to work, and he hasn't," Pasdon said yesterday.

Under the terms of the city's collective-bargaining agreement with the firefighters union, Brophy has to abide by "certain protocols" in order to get back on duty, Cocuzzo said. Brophy has not satisfied the requirements of those protocols, and that triggered the suspensions, Cocuzzo said.

Neither Cocuzzo nor Pasdon would discuss the protocols or elaborate on what led to Brophy's punishment. Pasdon said it was a personnel matter and needed to be kept confidential. "I will not discuss it because (Brophy) has the right to due process," Pasdon said.

The chief said he did not want to jeopardize the integrity of the scheduled hearing by publicly disclosing evidence in advance of it.

"It could affect his rights before the mayor," Pasdon said.

Brophy could not be reached on his cell phone. James Lendall, president of the firefighters union, could not be reached for comment last night.

Bonfanti fired Brophy after he slept through a March 2005 emergency call from the parent of a 6-month-old having trouble breathing. Emergency medical technicians and the police did respond to the call. The baby survived.

The missed call was not the only trouble for Brophy. He had a physical altercation with a fire captain during a fire at his father's house. The arbitrator, however, found that the subsequent five-day suspension given Brophy was unwarranted because Brophy was off-duty at the time of the incident and not subject to the captain's authority.

Brophy also failed a drug test, but it was eventually tossed out because the testing method had not been agreed upon by the union.

Brophy's three separate suspensions will be served consecutively. Any punishment greater than a five-day suspension must be administered by the city's licensing authority, which is the mayor.