Bristol Reporter

ALVES CASE

On Friday, January 27th, a Bristol County Superior Court found that in 2016, the Town of Fairhaven improperly terminated Jonathan Alves based on an alleged handicap, alcoholism. Mr. Alves was awarded more than $800,000 by the jury. This matter was initially filed in U.S. District Court and Judge Mark Wolf appropriately granted summary judgment in favor of the Town in 2019. It was re-filed in Massachusetts Superior Court, and that resulted in Friday’s jury verdict.

The facts of this case are troubling on many levels. At the time Mr. Alves was terminated, he was a probationary police officer in his first year of employment. During his short tenure with the Fairhaven Police Department, he was stopped for speeding in Fairhaven, and argued with the officer that stopped him, apparently believing that as a member of the Police Department, he wasn’t subject to speeding laws. He was reprimanded for that incident. He also was reprimanded for posting a picture of himself on Instagram holding a large knife, armed with a handgun, with the caption “Bad MFR.” On the night of March 17, 2016, Mr. Alves, by his own admission, consumed at least six (6) beers, and three (3) other alcoholic drinks and then drove himself home. He arrived thirty (30) minutes late to work the next day, and, two (2) hours into his shift, admitted to his supervisor, who was also a family friend, that he was still under the influence of alcohol from the night before. Those are the facts.

The Town made the difficult decision to terminate Mr. Alves because he had shown a pattern of poor judgment and immaturity. His conduct portrayed a young man that didn’t think speeding laws should apply to a police officer, nor should the law regarding operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol. At the time of his termination, the Town of Fairhaven had invested substantial time and funding into his selection and training, including paying him during his attendance at the police academy. The Town, Chief Myers in particular, had every reason to hope for Mr. Alves' success. The decision to terminate Mr. Alves was difficult, but a decision that needed to be made in the best interests of the Town and its citizens.

Alcoholism is a legitimate handicap within the meaning of the law, however, an employee is not legally entitled to the protection of the law if he or she commits misconduct that would cause a non-handicapped person to be fired. That is clearly the case with Mr. Alves and the Town of Fairhaven. He was a probationary employee that could be fired for any reason. He did not have Civil Service protection nor did he receive protection from his union because he was a probationary employee. Candidly, the number and severity of the incidents involved could have resulted in his termination even if had passed his probation.

I respect the time and effort put forth by the jury in this case, but the outcome is extremely troubling. It is especially disturbing in light of today’s national headlines regarding police misconduct in Tennessee. The video from that case is shocking and disturbing. It is, however, a direct and foreseeable outcome if we fail to properly hire, train and supervise police officers. While we do not allege that the misconduct in the Tennessee case is analogous to this matter, both involve holding police officers accountable.

The public continues to demand that police officers are trained and conduct themselves in a manner that protects, not jeopardizes the public safety. From the day they start working, police officers are granted the awesome power to arrest us, and, with justification, to use force to do so. There is a continued outcry that municipal leaders hold their police officers when they abuse that power, and take swift and decisive action when they do. We can’t have it both ways. We can’t demand that municipal leaders demand accountability from our police officers, and then punish them when they do exactly that.

In 2016, the Town hired a police officer that proved unable to conduct himself in a mature and professional manner. He also engaged in conduct that showed that he did not believe that the very laws he was charged with enforcing actually applied to him. There is certainly no place in modern policing for a person that posts an Instagram photo of himself heavily armed with the caption “Bad MFR.” After a number of troubling incidents, the Town fired Mr. Alves, which is exactly what our municipal leaders need to do under such circumstances.

The Town is in the process of reviewing all of its options with regard to appealing this decision.

Original source can be found here