The firing was over a disagreement she had with police Chief Burt Roberts and Capt. Patrick Carr over coronavirus protocols she felt weren’t being followed properly.
Johnson’s attorney, Steve Lazarus, filed an administrative appeal asking the Butler County Common Pleas Court to order the township to reinstate her with back pay and benefits. The 10-year veteran of the police force was placed on unpaid suspension May 1.
Judge Keith Spaeth recently found the township’s actions were correct, saying he could only overturn the decision if he found the decision was “unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable or unsupported” by the record.
“This court finds that the record contains reliable, probative and substantial evidence that supports the board’s decision to terminate Johnson’s employment,” Spaeth wrote in a brief opinion.
Johnson has until May 3 to appeal Spaeth’s decision to the 12th District Court of Appeals. Her attorney Steve Lazarus said they have not yet made that determination. He told the Journal-News he finds it incredible an officer with an impeccable service record would be fired for insubordination.
“The standard of review going up (to the 12th District) is very high,” Lazarus said. “If you look at the decision, he didn’t really address a lot of the charges. There were like 9 or 10 different charges against her and basically he came down and said there was sufficient evidence of insubordination, which really was not the serious charge of dishonesty. It’s disappointing, the decision.”
The incident involved another officer who reported a 100.6-degree fever on the temperature log that was instituted when the coronavirus pandemic descended last year. Johnson saw the fever and complained her co-worker was still on duty.
At the time Township Administrator Bob Bass, who recently retired, told the Journal-News the officer Johnson complained about was suffering from an abscessed tooth, and the infection caused the fever. Johnson “took it upon herself” to call the Butler County General Health District about the fever and still maintained her co-worker should be sent home until her fever subsided, he said.
The issue led to an altercation with Roberts and Carr and she walked out of a meeting with them and refused to return when ordered. Johnson also made some allegations against Carr that turned out to be unfounded, according to Bass.
“I’m glad that he (Spaeth) felt that way about it, now the ball is in Mollie’s court,” Township Trustee Ellen Yordy said. “She has the opportunity to appeal that if she thinks she can ... That kind of says we had strong reason to dismiss her and let’s move on.”
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office hired Johnson right after the incident and Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said she still works there.
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