Firefighter's case settled

Firefighter's case settled
BRAINERD CITY COUNCIL
By MATT ERICKSON
Staff Writer, Brainerd Dispatch
The city of Brainerd has settled a grievance by a firefighter over his suspension and demotion.Fire Capt. Keith Stunek was suspended for 90 days and lost his rank as captain after he responded to a fire call in February when other firefighters believed he had been drinking based on what they observed and could smell, City Attorney Tom Fitzpatrick said.A test showed Stunek's blood alcohol content was 0.07 percent, below the limit for driving a vehicle but above the fire department's threshold of 0.04 percent, Fitzpatrick said."The fire department has pretty strict regulations and policy about not going to a fire scene if you've had alcohol," Fitzpatrick said.Stunek appealed the punishment, asking for $800 in attorney's fees, reinstatement of his rank, reinstatement of time on his pension and the removal of the incident from his personnel file.Stunek declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday. In calls to Dispatch editors he repeatedly argued his name should not be made public.Following a closed session Monday, the Brainerd City Council unanimously approved a settlement that pays Stunek's $800 attorney fees, reinstated his captain's rank effective Oct. 15 and gave him service credit to the fire relief association. The council, however, decided the incident would remain in Stunek's personnel file.Council member Bob Olson was critical of Stunek's suspension and demotion, not because he believed Stunek didn't deserve the penalties but because department heads made the decision without the council's knowledge or direction."The council knew nothing about this until we got a letter from Stunek's attorney on Sept. 8 telling us what happened," Olson said. "My whole context was it was done without council approval."Olson said he agreed to the settlement to avoid further legal costs but that staffers involved should be held accountable.City Administrator Dan Vogt said in his almost 20 years as city administrator he has never exercised discipline over paid on-call firefighters, instead referring such matters to the fire chief. Vogt said the question is whether paid on-call firefighters were considered city employees or served in more of a volunteer capacity. The city's League of Minnesota Cities attorney advised the council to clarify that in its employee policy manual or in the fire department policy manual."We didn't have a good definition of whether they're employees or not," Vogt said. "If it would have been a suspension and discipline of a full-time employee, there's no question it would have come to the council's attention."Fire Chief Fred Underhill could not be reached for comment Thursday.

(The last I knew is that if you are paying for compensation of any kind, including workers compensation, retirement fund etc. or other compensation they would be considered employees) (Volunteers would not receive any type of compensation at all.)