Maya McFadden file photo
Shayna Kendall.
A state arbitration panel has ruled that ex-police Sgt. Shayna Kendall should get her job back after finding that the city did not have “just cause” to fire her for allegedly lying about a traffic stop-turned-civilian complaint.
The state Department of Labor’s Board of Mediation and Arbitration handed down that decision on Nov. 22. Click here to read the ruling in full.
A two-person majority of the three-person panel ruled that Kendall should not have been fired in August 2022 following an Internal Affairs investigation that led the city’s police chief and police commission to determine that she had lost her credibility as a cop.
Instead, the panel’s majority found that Kendall should be reinstated in her city police job, that her discipline should be reduced to a one-day suspension, and that she should be “made whole” for lost wages and benefits resulting from her termination.
One of the panel’s members dissented on the majority opinion, arguing that a one-day suspension was not nearly enough given the board’s findings. (See more on that below.)
The incident that led to Kendall’s termination took place in July 2021, when Kendall allegedly pulled over a driver who had honked her horn at her and was dishonest with police investigators who subsequently looked into the matter. Click here to read a full article on the case and on her subsequent firing by the police commission, at the recommendation of Police Chief Karl Jacobson.
“The crux of this case was about the allegations that Grievant [Kendall] was untruthful and therefore unable to uphold the public trust or fully perform the duties of a police officer in swearing out subpoenas and reports or testifying in court,” the 18-page arbitration award reads.
According to the award report, the police department and the city, represented by attorney Floyd Dugas, argued over the course of the arbitration hearings that Kendall deserved to be fired for making an illegal stop and for being dishonest. The report summarizes the position of the police union, represented by attorney Marshall Segar, as arguing that Kendall “is a highly decorated police officer,” that this was a “one-off incident,” that “there are dozens of similarly-situated NHPD police officers with veracity issues that have been promoted,” and that the police department conducted a “clumsy investigation.”
Of the six allegations presented by Jacobson to the city’s police commission in support of his recommendation to fire Kendall, the state arbitration panel found that the city had “met its burden of proving” only one of them — that Kendall had violated General Order 12.01.02 and 12.02.04 “by failing to document and notify dispatch of the traffic stop.”
The majority of the panel found that the police department did not adequately prove that Kendall had violated any other general orders, including those pertaining to an officer’s honesty. In regards to one such allegation, involving a dispute over how and when Kendall notified her supervising lieutenant that she would be late to work the day of the incident, the panel stated that the time gap between the incident itself and when Kendall was interviewed by police investigators renders such discrepancies potentially more benign. “There is not sufficient evidence for this panel to determine that Grievant’s initial statement, four months after an incident that she thought was insignificant, was untruthful as opposed to mistaken.”
In conclusion, the panel determined that a one-day suspension would be more appropriate than termination. “The City of New Haven did not have just cause to terminate Sergeant Shayna Kendall,” the award document reads. “For the reasons stated in the Discussion, the Arbitration Panel finds that the City of New Haven did have just cause to suspend the Grievant for one day, and, accordingly, the termination shall be reduced to a one-day suspension. Grievant shall be reinstated and made whole for any lost wages (less any customary deductions and any earnings received during the period of termination), benefits, and seniority consistent with this Award.”
Two of the panel’s members, Janis Jerman and Don Sevas, signed on to the majority opinion. Russell Melita filed a dissent.
In his one-page dissent, Melita argued that Kendall’s termination “was not in itself just on this incident, but a culmination of Sgt. Kendall’s behavior over her tenure as a police officer.
“With public opinion being at a low, particularly in police actions and behaviors, police leadership is doing its best to repair damage.”
After listing examples of Kendall’s alleged untruthfulness during the July 2021 traffic stop, Melita concluded that a one-day suspension without pay “will not be a deterrent to police behavior or public perception.”
Kendall’s attorney, Eric Brown, heralded the “outstanding outcome” of the panel’s decision, and praised police union attorney Segar for “his fine legal work” in this case. “I would expect that the City will appeal but we are hopeful that it will simply accept the decision and welcome a fine police officer back into its ranks.” Segar, Kendall, police union President Florencio Cotto, and Police Chief Jacobson all declined to comment for this article.
On Monday night, Mayor Justin Elicker provided the following comment by email: “Chief Jacobson and the Board of Police Commissioners unanimously concluded that Sgt. Kendall’s actions warranted termination from the New Haven Police Department. Among the most important qualities in a police officer are honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness both with the community and with their fellow officers. We ask residents to be honest with our officers, and our officers must be held to the same standard. We’re disappointed by the board’s ruling and the city’s corporation counsel is reviewing the decision to determine next steps.”
Good for her.