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Police union says shift to Office of Employee Appeals has delayed discipline appeals; union urges return to arbitration
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Summary
The chairman of the DC Police Union told the Committee on Executive Administration and Labor that since the Council removed arbitration rights for disciplinary matters, appeals moved to the Office of Employee Appeals have faced lengthy scheduling delays and few final decisions, causing financial hardship for officers.
The chairman of the DC Police Union testified on Feb. 5 that a 2020 change to the disciplinary appeals process — which eliminated arbitration as a forum for certain police disciplinary matters — has strained the Office of Employee Appeals and left some officers without timely hearings or decisions.
Greg Pemberton, who testified as chairman of the DC Police Union, said the union had warned the Council that redirecting appeals to OEA would overwhelm the agency. "Prior to 2023, union members primarily appealed disciplinary matters to neutral arbitrators... After the Council passed the Comprehensive Policing Justice Reform Amendment Act on June 8, 2020, those appeals were required to be filed with OEA," Pemberton said.
Pemberton described multiple individual cases to illustrate delays: one member filed an appeal Aug. 1, 2023, and according to the union had no briefing schedule for more than 14 months; another termination appeal took eight months for a decision. He told the committee that in the past two years union members have received only one decision from OEA on the merits of disciplinary appeals filed by the union.
He said the delays have real consequences when members are placed on indefinite unpaid suspensions and barred from outside employment by the department, creating severe financial distress. Pemberton recommended restoring the right to neutral arbitration for adverse actions, which he said would divert a significant volume of cases from OEA.
Committee members pressed for data and asked Pemberton to provide counts of cases and timelines. Pemberton agreed to deliver numbers for FY 2024 within a week. Committee members also said they will question OEA about case processing times and funding; the union had alleged OEA halts scheduling hearings when it exhausts court‑reporting funds late in the fiscal year.
The committee did not reach a decision at the hearing. OEA officials later testified that they had received 13 of the police‑discipline appeals since the disciplinary changes took effect, issued seven of those appeals with an average of about 114 business days to decision (well inside OEA's 120 business‑day statutory target), and that remaining cases averaged roughly 147 business days when extensions and scheduling delays occurred.
Ending — follow up: The committee asked Pemberton to provide case counts and timelines and said it will question OEA and the police department as part of continuing oversight of adjudicatory and disciplinary systems.
