Firefighter Wins Appeal

An arbitrator has ruled that Peabody (Mass.) firefighter John Brophy was disciplined too severely for sleeping through a telephone call from the police department reporting a medical emergency. Brophy was working the watch desk in May 2005, but had gone to sleep in a firehouse bed when a police dispatcher tried to notify him of an infant with a breathing problem. Police officers had to drive to the firehouse and pound on the door to alert firefighters. The city fired Brophy, but an arbitrator has now ruled he should be suspended for 30 days without pay. The city said an off-duty altercation between Brophy and a fire captain, and a work-related drug testing dispute also figured in his firing. The city is considering whether to appeal the arbitrator’s ruling.