Nekoosa Custodian Wins Job Back

An arbitrator has ordered the Nekoosa School District to reinstate custodian Duane Exner, who was fired in August 2000 based on allegations that he extended his lunch hour without permission.

Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission arbitrator William C. Houlihan ruled that the district failed to conduct “a meaningful investigation” into the allegations, which Exner denied. During the arbitration hearing, testimony from a co-worker corroborated Exner’s statements that he did not exceed the allowed half-hour lunch break on July 1, 2000.

The allegations were made by a citizen who contended she saw Exner in his parked car near her home that day for up to two hours, although she was inconsistent in her estimates of the time.

The association argued the citizen was mistaken and pointed out inconsistencies in her testimony. It also pointed out that Exner, in his role as a local union official, had a conflict with District Administrator David J. Scarpino and School Board President Dan Joling, and that may have caused the district “to consider all of the evidence in the most negative light against” Exner. Joling, a Nekoosa police officer, was assigned to investigate the citizen’s report that Exner was parked near her home.

Exner, who received WEAC’s Bierbrauer statewide collective bargaining award in 1994, has worked in the district since 1984. The association pointed out that in 16 years of work, Exner was never late, never left early or extended his lunch break.

Houlihan ordered the district to reinstate Exner, with back pay and benefits.

Exner was represented in his grievance and arbitration by Central Wisconsin UniServ Council Director Tom Ivey and WEAC staff counsel Steve Pieroni.

Posted December 21, 2001