A Public Employee Relations Board hearings examiner has ruled that D.C. police Chief Cathy Lanier was retaliating against the police union when she stripped the union’s chief of his badge in July 2009.
The ruling by the hearings examiner will be referred to the full board for a decision. Baumann was restored to duty about a week after his badge was taken.
The case stems from July 2009, when union chief Kris Baumann was stripped of his badge in the midst of a police investigation regarding the release of recorded transmissions between top police brass and officers on the scene of a barricade situation. Police officials had declared the tapes confidential, and they started an investigation after The Washington Examiner made inquiries about them.
Police officials said at the time that Baumann and Executive Chief Union Steward Delroy Burton were removed from duty because they failed to meet mandatory training requirements.
On Friday, the employee relations board ruled “there was no way to justify [the stripping of Baumann’s badge] other than to recognize that they were reprisals fueled by union animus and intended to curtail the Chairman’s and Chief Steward’s protected rights.”
D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles said the city will fight the hearing examiner’s ruling.
“I don’t understand why Mr. Baumann would not be required to meet training requirements like everyone else,” Nickles said.
