Court Orders Fired Dispatcher to be Reinstated

The Massachusetts Court of Appeals has ordered the city of Peabody to reinstate former dispatcher John Brophy, 45, who was fired in 2005 for sleeping on the job and missing incidents. The court’s ruling upholds an arbitrator’s earlier ruling that the city exceeded its authority by firing him, even though Brophy had a prior disciplinary history. A district court judge also upheld the arbitrator’s ruling. City officials say they will not appeal the ruling, and are working out back pay and other details of Brophy’s return.