Fired Ohio officer loses fight to get job back
The former Cincinnati police officer fired for saying a racial slur will not get her job back, according to a labor arbitration decision issued last week.
On April 5, 2022, Rose Valentino was caught on her own body camera saying, “f---ing n-----s, I f---ing hate them” while stuck in traffic near Western Hills University High School and District 3 police headquarters.
She was alone in her police cruiser with her windows up when she encountered another vehicle blocking an exit, according to the report. She turned on her cruiser’s lights and sirens. This automatically turned on her body-worn camera. She said a student also flipped her off while she was trying to get the other car to move.
After reviewing what happened, Chief Teresa Theetge fired her in August. The chief said Valentino’s “ready use of the racial slur” tarnished her ability to work with any community member.
Valentino was among a string of officers in recent years caught using slurs on duty. She is the only one to be fired as a result. She filed a grievance seeking reinstatement arguing, in part, that she was being punished differently for the same infraction.
The arbitrators disagreed. They said others used the slur in an “offthe-cuff”way,atworstdirectingitatan individual.
“(Valentino) was not terminated for use of a racial slur only,” the arbitrators’ decision read. “She was
discharged for using a slur while voicing hatred in a profanity-laden tirade against an entire community she had a duty and responsibility to protect.”
The arbitrators called her comments a “vituperative denunciation of an entire race.”
Dan Hils, Cincinnati’s police union president, disagrees with the decision.
“I should have known that the fix was in when the city introduced Joe Mallory, NAACP president, as their star witness in the arbitration case,” Hils said. “When Mr. Mallory hinted to the arbitrators there would be trouble if Ms. Valentino was given her job back, I am certain they felt intimidated.”
Mallory said it is simply untrue that he threatened to promote any unrest.
“What Rose Valentino said was indefensible,” Mallory said. “She would have been a walking liability. If she ever had contact with a Black person, her credibility would have been called into question.”
Mallory acknowledged that police work is hard but said Valentino being triggered by something like that “points to a deeper issue.”
The arbitrators also said that despite Valentino’s apparent stress and mental health trouble, the police department has made several programs and services available to officers to address this. The decision states that Valentino did not take advantage of these until after the incident.
The arbitrators also addressed the disciplinary matrix used by the Cincinnati Police Department.
The first police captain to review Valentino’s case recommended she be suspended for five to seven days and undergo additional training, which is in line with the recommendation in the matrix. Chief Theetge overruled this decision saying Valentino had violated the community’s trust and that Valentino had prior disciplinary problems.
The arbitrators agreed with the chief saying she can discipline officers beyond what the matrix allows as it serves only as a guide.
The police union also argued Valentino was wrongfully punished on the basis of public opinion, but the arbitrators said “public perceptions and public interest are relevant” and can be a factor in discipline.
Hils questioned what impact this might have on officers choosing Cincinnati as a place to work. “The arbiters are admitting, in a sense, that public reaction and/or potential mob rule will affect their decisions here and in the future,” he said. “This acknowledgment is something police officers should consider when deciding which community to serve in their profession.”
The arbitration decision can be challenged in court under narrow circumstances, but Hils said the arbitration is binding and there is no current challenge in court.
“If she had gotten her job back, it would have been a slap in the face to the city of Cincinnati and it would have put a dark cloud over the integrity of the police department,” Mallory said.