The City of Pittsburgh’s firing of a police officer found in civil court to have committed sexual assault failed to pass muster with Commonwealth Court, reportedly leading to the officer’s return to work amid a potential city appeal.
The decision prompted the officer’s accuser, who was a fellow Zone 5 officer, to fault the city for mismanaging the termination.
Aaron Fetty was dismissed by the city effective Sept. 27, 2022. That was more than a year after a June 21, 2021 barbecue-and-bar-hopping night for Zone 5 officers.
Fetty drove a female officer to her home that night. What happened next became the subject of a city Office of Municipal Investigations probe, an Allegheny County Police Department investigation and a civil Sexual Violence Protection Order case.
The city initially suspended Fetty. The county police probe did not result in charges. But Allegheny County Senior Judge Kathleen R. Mulligan found in the civil case, under a preponderance of evidence standard, that Fetty “committed the act of sexual assault.” The judge added that the female officer “is at a continued risk of harm” with the possibility of further interactions with Fetty.
That March 2022 decision prompted both the city and the county police to reopen their cases. Though the county police effort again did not result in charges, the city’s review resulted in termination.
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Fraternal Order of Police [FOP] Lodge 1 appealed, arguing that the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the union requires that disciplinary action be brought within 120 days of an infraction. The FOP’s argument has prevailed before arbitrators, a Court of Common Pleas judge and now the Commonwealth Court.
The court did not buy the city’s contentions that “unusual circumstances” or greater public policy interests trump the 120-day provision, basing those conclusions on state Supreme Court precedents. Affirming the earlier rulings against the city, Commonwealth Court effectively ordered Fetty’s reinstatement, while also noting that the city “retains the ability to petition our Supreme Court for review, present its public policy concerns” and seek reconsideration of earlier precedents.
The ruling came days before the Friday news that an arbitration panel ruled against the city’s 2022 decision to terminate former Officer Keith Edmonds. He was fired after he repeatedly deployed his Taser against Jim Rogers in Bloomfield in response to a report of a stolen bicycle.
Rogers died the next day in what the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner called an accidental brain injury.
Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration issued a statement Friday complaining that “even an admission of guilt by the officer isn’t enough to warrant disciplinary action,” calling for “a system where our officers can be held accountable,” but not saying whether it would appeal the panel’s decision to the Court of Common Pleas.
In the Fetty matter, Gainey’s administration issued a statement, saying that it is “extremely disappointed in the ruling” and will appeal to the Supreme Court. The city “will argue again that employees in law enforcement should be of the highest integrity and character,” according to the administration’s statement.
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FOP President Robert Swartzwelder called that “a political statement because they’re upset, because they had bad evidence, the evidence was cross-examined and they lost.”
He said the union worked to overturn the termination because the city attempted to punish an officer twice for the same misconduct and violated the 120-day rule.
The officer who pursued and received the Sexual Violence Protection Order issued a statement through Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, saying the city “fostered a work culture which instigated my sexual assault.” She continued that the city “conducted a woefully inadequate investigation and mismanaged the information,” resulting in failure to terminate Fetty within the contractual timeframe.
She wrote that media attention drove Fetty’s termination.
“In short, the city only took action after facing public exposure of my sexual assault revealing the city’s number one priority — its image — and further demonstrating the city’s blatant lack of concern for me as a suffering sexual assault victim.”
She has filed a lawsuit accusing the city of discrimination and retaliation, along with civil counts against Fetty and several former public safety officials.
Provided with the statement, city spokespersons did not immediately respond.
City spokespersons also did not immediately answer PublicSource questions regarding whether Fetty will return to work during the appeal, and if so in what capacity.
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Swartzwelder said rulings against the city, including one by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, compel the police bureau to bring Fetty back to work.
Fetty’s attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.
The administration noted that its new contract with the union includes a disciplinary matrix that could make it easier “to hold officers accountable for their behavior without having to go through arbitration and appeals to the Supreme Court.”
Swartzwelder said the union can still take disciplinary measures to arbitration.
Editor’s note (3/11/24): This story was originally published March 7, and modified to include news of the Edmonds arbitration decision. It has also been updated to include comments received after initial publication.
Rich Lord is PublicSource’s managing editor and can be reached at rich@publicsource.org.
