THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 2, 1997 TAG: 9701020046
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: FAIRFAX, VA. LENGTH: 54 lines
A Fairfax County fire captain who was terminated for moonlighting as a fire chief in North Carolina must be reinstated because his Fairfax supervisors said he could work both jobs, a county commission ruled.
From January to September of 1995, T. Michael Morrison was paid about $60,000 a year for his Fairfax County job and received an annual salary of about $40,000 in Nags Head. He made arrangements with other firefighters to work many of his shifts in Fairfax while he was in North Carolina.
Morrison was fired 15 months ago when the county executive learned what he was doing. But the county Civil Service Commission has ruled that the firing was improper because Morrison had the written approval of top Fire and Rescue Department officials, including Chief Glenn A. Gaines, to hold both jobs.
Gaines said Tuesday that when Morrison got the Nags Head job, he agreed to let him keep his Fairfax job for a while so that Morrison could accumulate the four to six months of county service he needed to qualify for immediate retirement benefits as a 20-year employee.
County leaders acknowledged that the case is particularly embarrassing at a time when they are trying to show taxpayers that they are serious about trimming the county budget.
``Everyone who had a chance to do the wrong thing in this case did it,'' said Board of Supervisors chairman Katherine K. Hanley. ``Clearly, the top brass of the fire department should never have given Captain Morrison the impression that he could hold both jobs at once.''
Gaines maintains that he approved of the moonlighting believing that Morrison's job as Nags Head fire chief would be only part-time. The commission in its ruling called Gaines's defense ``extremely tenuous.''
County regulations require that Acting County Executive Anthony H. Griffin implement the commission's rulings within 10 days or ask the commission to reconsider, but Griffin has done neither in the six weeks since the Nov. 19 decision was issued.
Griffin said Tuesday that he may decide this week whether to ask the commission to reconsider. Union officials said they plan to seek a court order for Morrison's reinstatement if Griffin does not take action.
With his retroactive reinstatement, Morrison, 41, would qualify for immediate retirement benefits, which sources close to the case say will amount to about $18,000 to $20,000 annually. Had the commission ruled against him, he would not have been able to collect retirement benefits until he turned 55.
Morrison did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Despite the ruling, Morrison will receive little if any back pay, county and union officials said, because of a Virginia law requiring reinstated employees to deduct any money obtained through another job during a suspension. Thus Morrison's salary in Nags Head will be deducted from his back pay in Fairfax.
KEYWORDS: MOONLIGHTING JOB TERMINATION FIRE CHIEF