November 25, 2009 in Idaho

Fired CdA officer files claim against city

Man says frivolous complaints led to termination

Alison Boggs The Spokesman-Review

Lawsuit

A 17-year veteran of the Coeur d’Alene Police Department filed a $3 million tort claim against the city Tuesday, saying he was fired without cause following a string of frivolous complaints against him by a subordinate.

Dan Dixon was fired in July, according to his attorney, Lawrence Beck, who said the case highlights the city’s lack of policies governing employee timekeeping.

“They don’t punch a time card. They don’t fill out a log. Dan was accused of a convenient thing that is becoming a fad at police departments around the United States when you want to get rid of an employee that you don’t have any real basis to discharge,” Beck said. Deputy City Manager Jon Ingalls said the city had just received the tort claim and has not had a chance to review it. “It would be inappropriate to comment on it at this time,” he said.

Beck said filing the claim with the city is a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit in First District Court, the next step if the city does not respond within the next few weeks. The claim also names as defendants Coeur d’Alene police Sgt. Daniel O’Dell, Capt. Ron Clark and Capt. Steve Childers.

The claim says that from August 2007 to December 2008, O’Dell, a subordinate to Dixon, filed frivolous complaints against Dixon. They included complaints that Dixon changed O’Dell’s work hours on one day and failed to supply another officer with training O’Dell thought that person needed. One complaint accused Dixon of charging the department for hours he did not work, the claim says.

Dixon complained to Childers regarding what he felt was harassment by a subordinate, but the department did nothing, the claim says. Dixon was told the department was launching an investigation into his alleged work-hour discrepancies, the claim says. An internal investigation lasted more than six months. On June 10, Dixon received a memo from Chief Wayne Longo saying he was recommending termination. The city produced no evidence showing Dixon had stolen time from the city, the claim says.

“Dan has been with the Police Department for over 17 years and has an exemplary record,” Beck said.

Dixon’s claim for $3 million includes compensation for retirement, wages and benefits that would have accumulated during his career.

Eight comments on this story so far. Add yours!

chatter on November 25 at 11:08 a.m.
Sounds like the City of Coeur d'Alene or the Police Department is hiding something. Somebody needs to look into this.

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jkl on November 25 at 2:03 p.m.
The city of Coeur d'Alene has a lot of explaining to do here. Throw away 17 years of dedicated service without a reason? Time to probe the police dept.

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chatter on November 25 at 3:37 p.m.
jkl

Good idea who would one call?

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chatter on November 26 at 11:11 a.m.
Well I tried yesterday afternoon to call City Hall, but all the important people were gone until Monday.

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CP on November 27 at 1:28 p.m.
Wait… the police department spent SIX months investigating time card discrepancies for one employee? I wonder how much that cost?? And why even bother, if they can fire him without producing any evidence he did it? I'm trying to imagine this happening at my business…If I couldn't produce evidence in ONE month, I certainly wouldn't keep trying. What a RIDICULOUS waste of money! At best, this is a bungled and wasteful system, and those investigating are totally inept. At worst, it is another example of suspicious practices at the Coeur d' Alene Police Dept.

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Mediaman on November 27 at 4:50 p.m.
I know Dan Dixon very well because he is my cousin. I felt compelled to share this. I stand behind him and you should too, here is why;

1. Here's the guy the CDA police department is firing.
-Couer d' Alene's police officer of the year in 1998.
-the man who became the youngest officer ever promoted to Lieuentant.
-the man who supervised the drug task force that was awarded Idaho's drug unit of the year.
This firing isn't fair.

2. Dan Dixon is the rock of both his immediate and extended families. He's the kind of cop I would trust to protect my family and my community. CDA can't lose him.
Let's stand behind a highly decorated officer of 17 years of outstanding service.

3. Dan Dixon took his job protecting the public very seriously for 17 years. Couer d'Alene's finest is showing his stuff by packing his integrity through terribly tough times for both himself and his family. He has a lot of courage. He'll be okay. But the city of Couer d'Alene should know what it's losing.

4. Dan Dixon started preparing for a career in law enforcement when he was a junior in high school.
He committed himself to excellence back then. He gave his heart to a job he was proud of. Dixon is a pro.
He became an exceptional police officer. His accommodations have been outstanding on the force. These charges against him don't make sense.

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greyhound2 on November 29 at 11:05 a.m.
For private employees, Idaho is a “Right to Work” state with employment “at will”. If your fired, your out the door, no reason given and no recourse available.

For public employees, heavily unionized through “associations”, get back pay, paid time off, hearings and a chance to sue their employers.

No wonder everybody wants a government job.

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Irishmom3 on December 02 at 4:45 p.m.
Wow…Just another example on how our two local papers print stories. This one was much more informative on names and dates compared to our Coeur d'Alene Newspress that i am sure conveniently left out many key details. As a citizen there is a point when you have to stop and take a look at all the media attention our local Cda police department has received over the last year. It would be in my own understanding that they may need to do some serious housecleaning now that they are taking good standing police officer's like Mr. Dixon and firing them for frivolous complaints. My question would be as to why they haven't seriously addressed the harassment that was being done by the subordinate? I hardly believe someone with an exemplary record would wage his job and integrity on stealing work hours. Really.. we funded 6 months of an investigation with NO evidence proven against Mr Dixon leading to his termination!! Sounds like another inside cover up to me being done by our local PD. My heart goes out to all the good police officers including Mr. Dixon that serve our community daily to protect us. Unfortunately, more then we know they too have to deal with the dirty politics from the inside club. So do we as citizens just stand by and let Cda PD/Chief Longo take another one of our finest officers and chalk him up to the “New Police Department Fad”? I personally feel that Mr. Dixon's loyalty of service to the Cda department for 17 years deserves to be recognized…and for once i would like to see the good guy win.

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