Civil Service Commission Rules Foley Firing Justified

Former Deputy claimed memory loss from pain killer withdrawal caused timesheet errors

 

August 16, 2018



DAYTON—On Monday, the Columbia County Civil Service Commission ruled that Columbia County Sheriff Rocky Miller was justified in firing deputy Don Foley earlier this year. Foley was terminated by Miller in May for overstating his time on timesheets.

A letter signed by commission members Craig George, Richard Di Lorenzo, Jeff McCann and Bonnie Williams said, “Mr. Foley’s termination was made in good faith, and his dismissal was substantiated.”

At an August 8 hearing in front of the commission, Foley’s attorney, David Rose, said that the Sheriff needed to prove Foley acted with intention. Rose said that in fact, Foley did not intend to falsify his timecards, but that he made mistakes because of problems with his memory while going through opioid withdrawal.

Suzanne Michael, counsel for the county, said Foley was properly terminated, and that he knew what he was doing. He was using opioid withdrawal as a cover, she said.


Sheriff Miller said that on January 22, Foley left work earlier than what he recorded on his timesheet, and that similar false recordings occurred on several other days as well.

Miller said he decided to track Foley’s whereabouts, to see how “widespread” it might be. “Nearly every day there were miss-recordings of time actually worked,” Miller told the Commission.

So Miller said he told Foley he was under investigation and placed him on paid administrative leave.

Miller said Foley finally told him about the problems he had with depression, anxiety and faulty memory while being tapered off oxycodone, and he told county officials about this at an April 2 hearing.


Miller also said Foley told them he also had been unable to find his timesheet in the computer, or the piece of paper on which he was keeping track of his time. So he couldn’t correct his January timesheet when it was due to be turned in in February.

Foley said he was prescribed oxycodone after undergoing shoulder surgery in October 2017 for a rotator cuff tear. He said he had injured the shoulder while on the job in November 2016.

Foley was cleared for “modified duty” last December, but was having memory problems, beginning in November, and lasting through January, he said.

In January, Foley said he slipped on ice, breaking his leg and reinjuring his shoulder while at work.

Foley teared up when describing the anxiety, nausea, sweats and depression he experienced as he was tapering off the pain medication in January. He referred to them as “dark days.”

On January 22, Foley returned to light duty, a couple of hours each day, helping with inmates’ meals, working in the laundry, investigating a case, and other office-related duties.

Sheriff Miller said that if he had known about Foley’s state of mind during that time, he would never have allowed him back to work.

After taking the timesheet issues into account, and looking into opioid addiction and withdrawal symptoms, Miller fired Foley. “It was the right decision,” he said.

 

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