March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Lengthy, costly Houlton police hearings end> Decision on bias claim expected in summer

AUGUSTA — After a dozen sessions, the Maine Labor Relations Board has concluded hearings in a case alleging anti-union bias that has pitted the town of Houlton against some members of its Police Department.

With the hearings out of the way, the board is expected to make a decision this summer.

The hearings stemmed from complaints of anti-union animus filed in April and May 1997 by Officers John Hyman and Troy O’Bar, Cpl. Dana Duff and then-Sgt. Edward Archer, who has since left the department to become police chief in Lincoln.

The four alleged in two complaints that some parts of scores for promotional tests conducted in late 1996 for patrol sergeant and sergeant-detective were manipulated by Police Chief Darrell Malone so that officers who had been active in their union were less likely to be promoted than those who were not as active or were favored by Malone.

Roger Putnam, hearings reporter for the board, said Thursday that he expects to complete transcribing last Friday’s final testimony sometime next week. When that is done, he will send that information to the respective attorneys, who then will have 30 days in which to file their briefs. They will have 10 days after that to file rebuttal briefs.

In June, the board will begin its review of the briefs, deliberate, review the draft order, make changes and present a final ruling.

“There are a lot of facts in this case,” Putnam said. “We’re looking at a fair amount of time” before a decision is rendered.

In their complaints, the officers have asked, among other things, that promotions based on exams conducted in November 1996 be rescinded and that all the applicants be retested.

Putnam said the number of hearings required for the Houlton case at least ties a record for the board on a single issue. The last time as many hearings were held was in 1985, for a case involving the Winthrop Police Department.

He said hearing sessions typically last one or two days.

In addition to the time involved, the hearings are expected to generate about 2,200 pages of transcribed testimony.

“Everyone to a person would agree that it was a tad long,” said attorney Tom Johnston of Bangor, who is representing the town in the case. “It should have been a routine case and it turned into a monster.”

Attorney Bradley Snow of Millinocket, who represents Duff, agreed that the session was too long. “They wanted to hear everything,” he said in a telephone interview. “They need to have everything in front of them that they need to set things. There were so many witnesses.”

Attorney John Richardson, who is representing Hyman and O’Bar on behalf of the Maine Association of Police, did not return calls to his office.

Besides the time involved, the case has been costly. According to records supplied by the Houlton treasurer, the town spent almost $38,000 in legal fees and costs through Dec. 31, 1998. The cost to Duff and the union was not available.

In addition, officers and others involved in the case had to juggle work schedules, and lost days off and vacation time as they traveled to Augusta for each of the hearings, which began last April.

Despite the inconveniences, Johnston said, he was “impressed … with the demeanor of the members of the department.”

He said that unlike a divorce case where both sides are not together during and after the hearings, with the Police Department, “these people have to come to work [together]. Litigation is not suited for these cases.”


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