The firing of Van Buren Township Fire Inspector Anthony Karver more than a year ago was upheld by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in its findings issued April 10.
Karver was fired March 10, 2014 and his protest was filed March 13. The case was heard Sept. 10, 22, and Oct. 28. The result was expected in January and then was postponed and postponed, with the findings finally released April 10, more than a year after the firing.
Mediator Joseph P. Girolamo signed the award stating Karver’s grievance was denied.
The township said Karver, who has been employed by VBT since August 1992, was fired from his full-time position because he didn’t pass the test required to keep his full-time job as Fire Inspector. Also, the township said, he was not separately a paid-on-call fire fighter, but attended fires as part of his full-time position, so he couldn’t continue as a fire fighter, either.
The union, however, said that Karver was fired because he reported Kenneth Floro was doing personal errands while being paid as a fire department duty crew officer, leaving his partner to work alone. Floro is a lieutenant in both the VBT police and fire departments. He is the highest-paid employee in the township.
“… the decision to terminate Captain Karver was unrelated to his complaint about Captain Floro,” said VBT Supervisor Linda Combs in the background report contained in the grievance award paperwork obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Supervisor Combs, who said she made the final decision to fire Karver, said that she met with Director Laurain and Chief Besson after Karver’s third failure to pass the test and she was also made aware of discipline in his personnel file, a tentative union agreement, and past arbitration decisions.
Karver was fired in March 2014 and passed the Fire Inspector II test in question in April 2014.
Local union president for the Michigan Association of Fire Fighters, Marc Abdilla, said the union does inform its membership of changes in a bargaining agreement when negotiations are completed.
A tentative agreement was initialized by both sides, but some of the terms concerning the Fire Inspector were not included in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The CBA did state the Fire Inspector must have NFPA and state certification as a Fire Inspector I and II. The tentative agreement, however, specified the procedure by which the Fire Inspector will be allowed to obtain the necessary certification.
Abdilla, a witness in the proceedings, confirmed that the township had proposed eliminating the Fire Inspector position. In the course of discussion, Abdilla said, it was agreed the Fire Inspector would need to pass the Fire Inspector II test.
But, the union said Karver was not placed on notice that his failure on a third attempt would result in his termination.
Witness Abdilla said Karver had a regular schedule of 40 hours per week and all of his remaining hours were devoted to Paid-On-Call duty. He was paid at the Fire Inspector rate for all hours worked.
After he was fired last year, Karver filed a Whistleblower’s law suit against the township and officials charging he was fired not for failing to pass the test, but because he said – if his superiors didn’t do something about stopping it — he was going to pass on to the township board reports and evidence about a fire fighter who was getting paid for hours he was not on the job.
The Whistleblower case, filed by Karver’s attorney Richard Convertino on June 11, 2014, is due for a motion hearing this Friday and a case evaluation on May 18 before Wayne County Civil Court Judge David J. Allen in Detroit. The settlement conference has been set for July 6.
Defendants in the Whistleblower’s case, besides the township, are VBT Fire Chief Daniel Besson, VBT Supervisor Combs, VBT Public Safety Director Greg Laurain, and VBT Batallion Chief/Fire Marshall David McInally.
The lawsuit asks for Karver to be reinstated to his former position of employment without loss of seniority; reinstatement as captain; back pay; an award in excess of $25,000 to compensate him for his pain, suffering, loss of reputation, emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment, humiliation, outrage and other injuries; exemplary and punitive damages, interest, and costs and attorney fees.
A jury trial is demanded.
- Previous story City Council sets special meeting to decide on bond for road repair
- Next story ‘inspired’ — 2015 Van Buren Public Schools Student Art Show, Grades K-12
11 Comments
Weather
Everyone knows that you don’t fire a guy after 23 years of service because of a certification that was recently put into his contract. The doesn’t even have it and the public safety director doesn’t even have a college education. The whole thing smells suspicious and probably will spill out in court. It is well known in the department that this was put in there to create a loop hole for this pathetic group of officers to get rid of him because he was the only person who would stand up to the corruption. I know a few of us feel like we are at fault because we went to him to complain about being left alone on shift and we knew he would address it, unlike the others. I hope he gets closure to this mess and don’t sway from having morals and values. Truley a person I look up to in our business.
If he was terminated because of a certificate, why doesn’t he get to work as a part-time paid on call?
Good afternoon. I was thinking about this after reading these last few articels about police corruption and now Inkster in the news for police brutality. Does anyone think that there is a connection with police and abuse of the system? Do you think that police should do tours because exposing them to criminal activity and the scum they have to deal with changes them right along with the criminals they are supposed to protect us against? Instead people are fearing the police for brutality, retaliation and even writing these comments because they seem to escape these situations unharmed. I hope that another agency does an investigation on this and finds that the actions of the Lt. Floro are unexcusable. I bet he is the highest paid police lt. in the state. sound the alarms.
There is always a smoking gun. The township will be probably get caught off guard thinking they covered all of their tracks.
I used to work with Capt. Karver at Van Buren and can say that I have never worked with a more professional fire fighter than he is. He loved his job and cared about the community more than anyone I ever met. I hope that he gets justice for the wrongs that were done to destroy his career and good name. To the people who fired him because he didn’t pass the test in how many ever attempts you gave,what happened to helping a fellow brother succeed? not all of us are gifted to have great test taking skills but after 20 + years you don’t throw a guy out like yesterdays dinner.
I would have sworn to you Karver would have retired in Van buren. You have support from us man.
I also know Anthony well. He helps out us old folks all the time on his own without any hesitation. He served this township with integrity and morals. I stopped by to offer my support and to remind him of that old garth brooks song about unanswered prayers. He just laughed and shook my hand. You are a class act.Mr.Karver
I do agree that law enforcement personnel have a high rate of doing criminal activities. You see it all the time on the news. The fact that someone gets fired for reporting a cop’s criminal activity is the very reason why nobody has respect for them. I hope the township wakes up and stops the money bleeding from greedy employees.
I think Anthony Karver should run for Supervisor. I would vote for him if he vows to clean up the corruption and vow to use the money toward making a difference.
I wonder why Karver wasn’t given the option to resign if this was purely for a certificate? Why wasn’t he given this option like past employees?
Where was Karver’s union representation in this issue? He should be suing them for not representing him. Police state! Police township. Tax dollars at work! Time to start over.