The Washington Post
November 18, 1993, Thursday, Final Edition
Fired Police Officer Who Alleged Bias, 2nd Worker Win Back
Jobs in Fairfax
BYLINE: Patricia Davis, Washington Post Staff Writer
Two fired Fairfax County police employees were ordered
reinstated yesterday, one of them a black female officer who has accused the
department of repeated race and sex discrimination. The Fairfax County Civil
Service Commission ordered back pay for Officer Sheila Patterson, who was fired
in July for allegedly throwing a telephone message pad at a colleague. She also
was charged with insubordination for her conduct during an internal
investigation of the incident and for refusing to sign a release form after a
psychological fitness-for-duty exam.
In its ruling, the commission said the county's evidence was
insufficient to sustain either charge. Because it ruled in Patterson's favor,
the commission made no finding on her allegation that she was dismissed because
of her race and sex. In a separate ruling, the panel sustained some of the
department's charges against Joyce M. Williams, former director of the
department's Victim/Witness Assistance Program, including that she used a
county vehicle for personal business, submitted a time sheet that did not
reflect leave taken and made false statements.But the commission said
Williams's dismissal was not appropriate and reduced the penalty to a 30-day
suspension. It said it found no evidence of discrimination, although Williams,
who is black, contended that she was dismissed because of disciplinary actions
she took against a white subordinate.Fairfax Police Chief Michael W. Young said
in a statement yesterday that the department is reviewing the ruling in
Patterson's case to determine "whether there are any remaining legal
issues which must be evaluated."In Williams's case, Young's statement
said, "the facts before the commission were serious, and they were
compelling and clear evidence of wrongdoing." Among other things, the
department alleged that Williams obtained money by false pretense through an
insurance transaction.The civil service commission ruling was the latest
victory for Patterson, who was on the Fairfax force about 10 years. The U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has twice issued findings that the
police department retaliated against her for filing race and sex discrimination
complaints. She has a federal lawsuit pending against the
department."We're ecstatic about it," Patterson's attorney, Edwin C.
Brown Jr., said of the latest ruling. "It offers at least an interim
vindication."