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City of Highland Park v. Teamster Local Union No. 7144/26/2005
nd the others on which the trial court relied, do hold that, absent a collective bargaining agreement to the contrary, it is within a municipality's prerogative to discharge an officer who has committed a serious criminal offense. That unremarkable proposition, however, is a far cry from a holding that a municipality must discharge (and not merely suspend) a police officer who commits a criminal offense under circumstances akin to the ones here. As no Illinois case appears to discuss this question squarely, we turn to foreign authorities that have applied the public-policy doctrine to circumstances resembling those here. These opinions support the Union's position that no public policy requires the discharge of Stumpf.
In Town of South Windsor v. South Windsor Police Union Local 1480, 255 Conn. 800, 770 A.2d 14 (2001), an arbitrator ordered the reinstatement of a police officer who had been discharged after he used excessive force against a group of teenagers who had illegally entered a gymnasium. The Connecticut Supreme Court upheld the arbitrator's decision. Applying legal standards identical to those used by Illinois courts, the court rejected the municipality's contention that the arbitrators' decision was contrary to "the public policy requiring the confidence of the public in its police force with respect to matters of public safety." Town of South Windsor, 255 Conn. at 824, 770 A.2d at 28. The court explained that " his general consideration fails to meet the test that 'the public policy exception to arbitral authority should be narrowly construed and * limited to situations where the contract as interpreted would violate some explicit public policy that is well defined and dominant, and is to be ascertained by reference to the laws and legal precedents and not from general considerations of supposed public interests.' " Town of South Windsor, 255 Conn. at 824, 770 A.2d at 28, quoting Groton v. United Steelworkers of America, 254 Conn. 35, 46, 757 A.2d 501, 509 (2000).
In Washington County Police Officers' Ass'n v. Washington County, 335 Or. 198, 63 P.3d 1167 (2003), the Oregon Supreme Court held that an arbitrator's reinstatement of a discharged police officer did not violate public policy even though the officer was terminated because he illegally purchased and used small amounts of marijuana while he was off duty. The court explained that, although there was "a public policy prohibiting illegal drug use by employees (like grievant) holding safety-sensitive positions," (Washington County, 335 Or. at 203, 63 P.3d at 1169), there was no case law or statute that embodied "a clearly defined public policy that would preclude the employee 's reinstatement" (Washington County, 335 Or. at 207, 63 P.3d at 1172).
In City of Minneapolis v. Police Officers' Federation, 566 N.W.2d 83 (Minn. Ct. App. 1997), an arbitrator reinstated a police officer who was discharged after a judgment was entered against him in a federal civil rights suit. In the federal suit, a jury found that the officer had used excessive force against a suspect who was in custody. In upholding the arbitrator's decision, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reasoned that, although there was "a well-defined and dominant public policy against police officers using excessive force," there was "no well-defined public policy stating that an officer must automatically be discharged if he or she is involved in an excessive force situation." City of Minneapolis, 566 N.W.2d at 89.
Aided by this limited but consistent authority, we must conclude that the City has failed to demonstrate that there is a well-defined and dominant public policy that requires the discharge of a police officer who is found guilty of misdemeanor tr
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