I Beat the Heat!...Finally!...Maybe?

Victory Pizza

For those who don't know, I've had this contract dispute with the Police Officers Standards and Training (POST) Council since I resigned from Boise Police Department (BPD) in March of 2008. In a nutshell, POST makes you sign a contract saying that you will reimburse the state for the cost of your training if you stop working in law enforcement within two years of receiving that training.

The crux of the whole issue was how I "stopped working." Technically I resigned, and that's all the paperwork said. In reality, I was brought to the Lieutenant's office at the end of my shift one night and told that I wasn't "progressing" as fast as they needed, and that I was not operating safely enough in the field. Consequently, they needed to "make the responsible decision" and he gave me "the opportunity to resign." I sure felt like I was getting fired, but in order to protect my future prospects (they offered to write me a good letter of recommendation if I resigned, and implied that they would not if I didn't) and because of my typically compliant nature, I resigned per their request. That was March 2, 2008.

On February 5, 2009, almost a full year after leaving BPD, I received a letter from POST saying that they were activating the reimbursement agreement in the amount of $6,000 and that I had 20 days to respond. I called my supervisor at BPD who had told me and our whole academy group on multiple occasions that as long as we didn't quit outright or get fired due to misconduct, we would be excused from our obligation to this contract. All he said was that this was the first time he'd heard of them coming after someone in my situation. Everyone else said that he had no authority to make such promises as he had made to us. Basically, it was sounding bad for me. So I met with a couple of attorneys who agreed the whole thing was baloney and told me to write a letter stating as much and why. I submitted my letter formally requesting a waiver of the contract and was told I would be scheduled to appear before the POST Council in "the next quarter." I never heard back from them and thought my excellent letter had put an end to the issue. That was February of 2009.

March 21st, 2011, we return from Hawaii and pick up our mail from the post office. On the top of the stack is a certified letter from the Attorney General's office summoning me to appear before the POST Council on April 14, 2011. I had two weeks to submit my supporting documents and materials and then another two weeks before my hearing. I couldn't believe this thing was still out there and that I might still be having to shell out $6,000 for this increasingly ridiculous contract. So I called and contacted a bunch of attorneys, including friends and family members to help me prepare for my hearing. Everyone seemed to agree that I had a very strong case but that the fact that they had a signed contract and that I would basically going into the lion's den to defend myself were going to be serious obstacles. I ended up hiring an attorney who also happened to be a sister I home teach in our ward and she was very helpful in preparing me for the hearing.

Today we showed up at the POST facility in Meridian, ID and were called into a conference room with a semicircle of tables seating about six people. I was asked to stand at the podium and my attorney to find a seat at the end of the table. They reviewed my case up to this point and actually represented it very fairly. They then swore me in and asked me the first question: Please explain the circumstances of your resignation. I took them through it from the beginning and explained how my resignation was not my idea in the least and that I would otherwise have absolutely continued on with the department. Then they asked the different members of the panel if they had any questions for me, and each had one or two relatively innocuous questions. During the course of the questioning, I ended up covering pretty much all of the strong points of my case. Consequently, when they asked my attorney if she had anything to add or ask me she said that I had pretty much covered everything.

They asked us to step outside while they deliberated. They called us in after about 5-6 minutes and told us that they had "unanimously decided in [my] favor." What a relief! They also thanked me for presenting them with my case in a very complete and candid manner "without rancor or seeking to assign blame." They said that the next step was that they would submit their decision to the full POST Council that meets in June and that they usually, but not always, agree with their decisions. They said that "in the unlikely event" that the full Council overrules their decision, I will have to go defend myself before them in a similar hearing. And that, as they say, was that.

So as of April 14, 2011, it looks increasingly likely that I have achieved victory in this matter. In celebration of this victory I even splurged and bought myself a $5 Little Caesar's pizza for lunch. I won't have anything in writing until June, but for now, it looks like I've finally won!