Appeals court: Duluth police officer fired for excessive force can keep job

The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected Duluth’s attempt in 2017 to fire a police officer for dragging a man along the floor by his handcuffs, affirming a district-court decision that the officer should keep his job.

The three-judge panel hearing the appeal ruled it did not have justification to overturn the decision of the third-party arbitrator who first heard the dispute. The ruling comes after a Minnesota Supreme Court decision made earlier this year that also raised broader questions about the authority of labor arbitrators, who under collective bargaining agreements often have the final say in legal clashes over police discipline.

http://www.startribune.com/appeals-court-duluth-police-officer-fired-for-excessive-force-can-keep-job/559296072/