Commission upholds Jack's termination

Dec. 9—The Civil Service Commission on Thursday upheld the City of Meridian's decision to terminate a police officer after an internal affairs investigation found evidence of misconduct.

Lt. Rita Jack, a 24-year veteran of Meridian Police Department, who worked as MPD's Crime Prevention Coordinator, was fired by the city for being on the clock while not at work.

Commissioner Ralph Henson said an internal affairs investigation, beginning April 27, 2022 and ending Aug. 26, 2022, provided evidence showing 28 occasions when Jack was on the clock while doing non-work related activities.

"She was observed, with photographic evidence, at home while clocked in," he said. "During the time clocked in, she rarely called or texted from her work cell phone or emailed on the work laptop before leaving the house."

On July 11, following a COVID-19 test, Henson said Police Chief Deborah Naylor Young denied Jack's request to work from home and said the time would need to be counted as sick leave.

Despite being told she could not work from home, he said, Jack continued to clock in while at her residence.

"Whether she thought clocking in at home was acceptable before July 11, afterwards she continued even when told not to, including unapproved overtime," he said.

Henson said the city presented evidence showing Jack also engaged in non-work activities, such as getting her hair done, while on the clock.

Commissioner Greg Elliot said he had some concerns about the city's argument that Jack was not working while at home. When asked, no one from the city was able to provide the commission with a job description for Jack's role, he said.

"I do not believe the city showed enough evidence that Ms. Jack was not working because we don't know exactly what her job is, what her job description is, what her job entails," he said. "We don't know."

Another concern, Elliot said, was that Chief Young, when asked about Jack working from home, said she would have to ask the administration for an answer. When testifying before the commission, he said, Young said she had asked former police chief Benny Dubose, who has been mentoring Young, before denying Jack's request.

"That's troubling to me," he said. "He's not in administration."

Elliot said he felt the errors with Lt. Jack's timecards could have been handled through her supervisor within a few days, but instead MPD launched a four month investigation. The situation, he said, pointed to a problem with the organizational culture in the police department.

Commissioner Kathi Wilson said she also had problems with the way the situation was handled.

"I don't think this was done in good faith," she said.

Wilson said she also disagreed with the presumption that being at home meant Jack was not working. The city, she said, had proven Jack was at home while on the clock but had failed, in her view, to prove Jack was not working.

In a city council meeting Tuesday, Jack claimed her termination was politically motivated and was retaliation by Mayor Jimmie Smith for Jack not voting for him in the 2021 municipal election.

After deliberation, the Civil Service Commission voted 3-2 to uphold the city's termination, with Elliot and Wilson voting nay.

Tuesday's vote was not the first time the Civil Service Commission had ruled on Jack's employment. In September 2020 the commission ordered Jack to be reinstated after the city terminated her for altering a police report.

Jack's attorney at the time, Joseph Denson, claimed the report had been altered by accident while she was training a group of recruits.