P
Paul J. Berg
Guest
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News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - July 23, 2007
Sherwood (Oregon) Police Chief Bill Middleton, an Army reservist who
spent more than a year interrogating captured militants in Iraq,
Afghanistan and at the military's Guantanamo Bay prison, returned to
town this spring to learn that he was reporting to a newly installed
public safety director -- a former Oregon State Police superintendent
who had served as interim chief while Middleton was gone.
Middleton, chief since 1995, previously reported directly to the city
manager. He said the change amounted to an unlawful demotion, and in May
filed a federal labor complaint against the city. City officials
maintained that his title, pay and responsibilities hadn't changed, and
reacted to the labor complaint by placing Middleton on paid
administrative leave.
Middleton and city officials are on contentious ground, a battle space
potentially shared by hundreds of Oregon National Guard members and
military reservists rotating home from duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. Like
Middleton, some find themselves in a new fight when they return to their
civilian jobs.
In June, an Albany man who was demoted and eventually fired from his job
with Target Corp. after joining the Oregon National Guard in the wake of
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, won a $1 million judgment.
While most employers comply with a federal law that keeps positions open
for service personnel -- and some go out of their way to support
military employees and their families -- 15 to 20 complaints a year are
filed in Oregon under the Uniformed Services Employment and
Re-Employment Rights Act.
Nationally, the U.S. Department of Labor reported 1,241 new cases in
2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available. That was
down from the 1,465 cases filed in 2004, which the department attributes
in part to a continuing education campaign.
The law not only requires employers to hold jobs open for military
personnel, but also broadly requires employers to extend to them raises,
promotions and benefits improvements they would have received had they
remained at work.
"Two sides to a story"
On Wednesday, Middleton said informal mediation has not resolved the
situation and he's asked the U.S. Department of Labor to forward his
case to federal attorneys for litigation, the next step in the process
under the federal law. He's also considering a civil lawsuit.
"I just wanted to get back to work, and it seemed like it wasn't
happening," Middleton said.
"That is his right," City Manager Ross Schultz said of Middleton's
action, "and we'll see how that ends up."
Middleton's attorney, Mark Turner of Portland, said the chief has a
"fabulous" case against the city. "There's objective evidence that this
was just wrong," he said. "I can't believe the city people have been as
stupid as they've been, for lack of a better term.
"The city manager specifically told Bill that the only way to keep him
as chief of police is to resign from the Army Reserve," Turner said.
"That's about as smoking gun as you can get."
The city's creation of the public safety director position was clearly a
demotion, Turner said.
City officials say they are hamstrung by personnel privacy concerns and
can't talk in detail about Middleton's situation. "The city doesn't
share that point of view," Assistant City Manager Jim Patterson fumed.
"There's always two sides to a story."
Well-regarded figure
The Middleton case is a raw topic in Sherwood, a southwest suburb of
about 15,000 that Money Magazine recently named 18th among the 100 best
places to live in the country.
The chief is well-regarded in town, to the extent that he was grand
marshal of the annual Robin Hood Festival parade on Saturday. "I love
him, he's so funny," said Holli Robinson, Sherwood Chamber of Commerce
executive director. Middleton and Schultz, the city manager, were
friends before the employment flap.
Middleton said his goal is to be reinstated as chief with the same
authority he had before, and if necessary he's ready to file a lawsuit
in addition to his labor claim.
But there are secondhand stories rolling through town about personal
misbehavior within the Police Department while Middleton was away on
active duty most recently. He says the city resented his being gone for
such long periods and wanted to stabilize the department by appointing
the experienced former state police superintendent -- Ron Ruecker -- to
take his place.
At one point, City Manager Schultz flew cross country to meet Middleton
in Washington, D.C., and asked him to sign a three-page contract
agreeing to work as deputy chief with assignment to the FBI's Joint
Terrorism Task Force in Portland -- work Middleton enjoys. The offer was
withdrawn when Middleton refused to sign the contract.
Middleton, 57, has been in the Army Reserve for 28 years. After the 2001
terrorist attacks, he and other reservists with law enforcement
backgrounds were assigned to the Defense Department's Criminal
Investigation Task Force. It was basic police work: question captured
combatants and determine whether they were responsible for attacks on
American troops. Most were proud of what they'd done and quite willing
to implicate themselves, he said.
Middleton was activated in December 2005 and in February 2006 was sent
to Iraq for six months. He then spent four months in Afghanistan,
followed by six months at the task force base in Virginia. While in
Virginia he made two trips to the prison at Guantanamo Bay, where he
helped assess whether detainees posed a continuing threat. He was
deployed once before, to Germany for a year in 2004.
He's retained a heavy hitter in attorney Turner, who represented the
Albany guardsman who recently won the $1 million judgment, which Target
said it will appeal.
Most cases don't devolve into legal action, however.
Nationally, investigators and mediators closed about one-third of the
2005 claims within 90 days, recovering $1.7 million in lost wages and
benefits for claimants, according to the Labor Department's annual
report to Congress.
"Lack of knowledge of the current law" is the root cause of most claims,
said Bob Elliott, a state coordinator of Employers Support of Guard and
Reserves. The group is aligned with the Defense Department and assigns
volunteer mediators to intervene when problems arise.
"If a business is big enough to have a human resources department, they
understand the law," Elliott said.
~
News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - July 23, 2007
Sherwood (Oregon) Police Chief Bill Middleton, an Army reservist who
spent more than a year interrogating captured militants in Iraq,
Afghanistan and at the military's Guantanamo Bay prison, returned to
town this spring to learn that he was reporting to a newly installed
public safety director -- a former Oregon State Police superintendent
who had served as interim chief while Middleton was gone.
Middleton, chief since 1995, previously reported directly to the city
manager. He said the change amounted to an unlawful demotion, and in May
filed a federal labor complaint against the city. City officials
maintained that his title, pay and responsibilities hadn't changed, and
reacted to the labor complaint by placing Middleton on paid
administrative leave.
Middleton and city officials are on contentious ground, a battle space
potentially shared by hundreds of Oregon National Guard members and
military reservists rotating home from duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. Like
Middleton, some find themselves in a new fight when they return to their
civilian jobs.
In June, an Albany man who was demoted and eventually fired from his job
with Target Corp. after joining the Oregon National Guard in the wake of
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, won a $1 million judgment.
While most employers comply with a federal law that keeps positions open
for service personnel -- and some go out of their way to support
military employees and their families -- 15 to 20 complaints a year are
filed in Oregon under the Uniformed Services Employment and
Re-Employment Rights Act.
Nationally, the U.S. Department of Labor reported 1,241 new cases in
2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available. That was
down from the 1,465 cases filed in 2004, which the department attributes
in part to a continuing education campaign.
The law not only requires employers to hold jobs open for military
personnel, but also broadly requires employers to extend to them raises,
promotions and benefits improvements they would have received had they
remained at work.
"Two sides to a story"
On Wednesday, Middleton said informal mediation has not resolved the
situation and he's asked the U.S. Department of Labor to forward his
case to federal attorneys for litigation, the next step in the process
under the federal law. He's also considering a civil lawsuit.
"I just wanted to get back to work, and it seemed like it wasn't
happening," Middleton said.
"That is his right," City Manager Ross Schultz said of Middleton's
action, "and we'll see how that ends up."
Middleton's attorney, Mark Turner of Portland, said the chief has a
"fabulous" case against the city. "There's objective evidence that this
was just wrong," he said. "I can't believe the city people have been as
stupid as they've been, for lack of a better term.
"The city manager specifically told Bill that the only way to keep him
as chief of police is to resign from the Army Reserve," Turner said.
"That's about as smoking gun as you can get."
The city's creation of the public safety director position was clearly a
demotion, Turner said.
City officials say they are hamstrung by personnel privacy concerns and
can't talk in detail about Middleton's situation. "The city doesn't
share that point of view," Assistant City Manager Jim Patterson fumed.
"There's always two sides to a story."
Well-regarded figure
The Middleton case is a raw topic in Sherwood, a southwest suburb of
about 15,000 that Money Magazine recently named 18th among the 100 best
places to live in the country.
The chief is well-regarded in town, to the extent that he was grand
marshal of the annual Robin Hood Festival parade on Saturday. "I love
him, he's so funny," said Holli Robinson, Sherwood Chamber of Commerce
executive director. Middleton and Schultz, the city manager, were
friends before the employment flap.
Middleton said his goal is to be reinstated as chief with the same
authority he had before, and if necessary he's ready to file a lawsuit
in addition to his labor claim.
But there are secondhand stories rolling through town about personal
misbehavior within the Police Department while Middleton was away on
active duty most recently. He says the city resented his being gone for
such long periods and wanted to stabilize the department by appointing
the experienced former state police superintendent -- Ron Ruecker -- to
take his place.
At one point, City Manager Schultz flew cross country to meet Middleton
in Washington, D.C., and asked him to sign a three-page contract
agreeing to work as deputy chief with assignment to the FBI's Joint
Terrorism Task Force in Portland -- work Middleton enjoys. The offer was
withdrawn when Middleton refused to sign the contract.
Middleton, 57, has been in the Army Reserve for 28 years. After the 2001
terrorist attacks, he and other reservists with law enforcement
backgrounds were assigned to the Defense Department's Criminal
Investigation Task Force. It was basic police work: question captured
combatants and determine whether they were responsible for attacks on
American troops. Most were proud of what they'd done and quite willing
to implicate themselves, he said.
Middleton was activated in December 2005 and in February 2006 was sent
to Iraq for six months. He then spent four months in Afghanistan,
followed by six months at the task force base in Virginia. While in
Virginia he made two trips to the prison at Guantanamo Bay, where he
helped assess whether detainees posed a continuing threat. He was
deployed once before, to Germany for a year in 2004.
He's retained a heavy hitter in attorney Turner, who represented the
Albany guardsman who recently won the $1 million judgment, which Target
said it will appeal.
Most cases don't devolve into legal action, however.
Nationally, investigators and mediators closed about one-third of the
2005 claims within 90 days, recovering $1.7 million in lost wages and
benefits for claimants, according to the Labor Department's annual
report to Congress.
"Lack of knowledge of the current law" is the root cause of most claims,
said Bob Elliott, a state coordinator of Employers Support of Guard and
Reserves. The group is aligned with the Defense Department and assigns
volunteer mediators to intervene when problems arise.
"If a business is big enough to have a human resources department, they
understand the law," Elliott said.
~
