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City attorney warns council after appeals court remands 2017 firefighter termination case
Summary
At the Sept. 10 Decatur council meeting the city attorney summarized a Tennessee Court of Appeals opinion in Boyd v. City of Memphis that remanded a 2017 firefighter termination, urging caution in employee discipline and in drafting phone and social‑media policies to avoid arbitrary procedures.
At the Sept. 10 meeting of the Decatur Town Council, the City Attorney briefed members on a recent Tennessee Court of Appeals decision in Boyd v. City of Memphis and warned that the opinion underscores risks for local employee‑discipline procedures and social‑media policies.
The attorney summarized the court’s finding that a trial court had improperly reversed a civil‑service commission’s termination and said the appeals court vacated that reversal and remanded the matter for proceedings consistent with the opinion. “We vacate the trial court’s decision reversing the commissioner’s termination of the appellant’s employment; the case is remanded to the trial court for entry of an order vacating the commissioner’s decision and ordering further proceedings in compliance with this opinion,” the City Attorney said during the report.
Why it matters: the attorney told the council the case began in 2017 and involved an allegedly offensive private Facebook post tied to a firefighter’s termination. He said the opinion quotes portions of an employer termination letter and concluded that municipalities must take care in how they apply personnel rules. The attorney advised the council to review phone and social‑media policies and to be cautious about the language used when disciplining employees.
The attorney described the factual background the appeals court set out: the employee posted a photo and comments in a private Facebook group that generated public complaints, prompting administrative action. The attorney said the court found procedural problems in how the termination was handled and therefore sent the case back to the trial court.
Council members asked questions about implications for local policy drafting and recordkeeping. The City Attorney said he would provide the 18‑page opinion to the clerk for members who want to read the full text and offered to answer follow‑up questions. “I’m going to give this opinion to Laura if anyone wants to read the entire thing; it’s public record,” he said.
No formal policy changes were adopted at the meeting. The attorney’s briefing concluded with a suggestion that council and staff ensure their disciplinary procedures and any related administrative forms and notices are clear and defensible before pursuing termination actions.
The attorney closed the item by inviting council members to ask questions; the meeting proceeded to the engineer’s report after the discussion.
