This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Regardless of job title, a former assistant police chief acted as the second-in-command in South Jordan, and was therefore subject to being fired any time, the Utah Court of Appeals has ruled.
Daniel Pearson was hired away from the Midvale police department to be assistant chief in South Jordan in 2002, said his attorney, Greg Skordas. Almost five years later, he found his job on the chopping block.
"They said, 'We like you, you're great, but we don't have room for you anymore,' " Skordas said.
Pearson sued to get his job back and a 3rd District Court sided with him, ruling that an assistant police chief is entitled to due process before being terminated.
Higher-level employees, however, aren't given the same consideration under Utah law.
The reasoning is that while lower-level employees should be able to advance their careers without worrying about who is in charge, a new mayor or city leader should be able to replace top jobs with his or her own people, according to the ruling.
The Utah Court of Appeals decided last week that even though Pearson's job title was assistant, which the legislature defined as one of the lower-level positions, his actual job duties amounted to a higher-level deputy police chief.
Pearson argued that neither his complete job duties nor his status as a so-called at-will employee were ever spelled out until a couple of days before he was fired.
"He just wanted his job back ... it's a job he'd worked hard to get," Skordas said. The appeals court decision "certainly makes his burden going forward much more difficult. It takes a lot of the heart out of our argument."
Skordas said they haven't yet decided whether to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, but the long-term effect of the case may be that all cities and their employees are "going to be a little more circumspect when they enter into agreements."
South Jordan spokeswoman Kelly Pfost said officials were "pleased that (the court) shared our opinions on the argument presented."
Twitter: @lwhitehurst