[Nfb-kzoo] Arbitrator rules in favor of Christine Boone, former director of Michigan Commission

[Tyler and Leanne Merren]

Fantastic news!  Thanks JJ for sharing!
Lee
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J.J. Meddaugh" <jj at bestmidi.com>
To: "NFB of Kalamazoo Michigan List" <nfb-kzoo at nfbnet.org>; "NFB of Michigan 
Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 1:40 PM
Subject: [Nfb-kzoo] Arbitrator rules in favor of Christine Boone,former 
director of Michigan Commission


> >From Kalamazoo Gazette
>
>  KALAMAZOO -
>  The former director of the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training 
> Center here,
> fired in February, 2010 in a dispute about a marksmanship class
> offered to students, should get her job back, with back pay and benefits,
> a hearing officer has ruled
> .
> "After careful review of all the facts and circumstances, it is clear that 
> (former
> director Christine) Boone performed her work in good faith and with 
> reasonable diligence,"
> arbitrator Michael P. Long wrote in his ruling, a copy of which was 
> provided by Boone.
> A spokesman for the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic 
> Growth, which
> oversees the training center, said via e-mail Wednesday that the 
> department had just
> received the order, had not yet had an opportunity to review it, and so 
> had no further
> comment.
> Boone, 51, said she learned the news from her lawyer Tuesday that the 
> state labor
> arbitrator had ruled in her favor and was "delighted" by the outcome.
> "I came to Kalamazoo four years to be the training center's director, and 
> my whole
> mission, my energy,  my time and my passion was to create an environment 
> where blind
> people would be challenged and receive skills they need to enter the work 
> force,"
> she told the Kalamazoo Gazette today in an interview.
> "I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to continue the work I 
> started."
> Boone was fired after her boss Patrick Cannon, director of the Michigan 
> Commission
> for the Blind in Lansing, became upset to learn of a marksmanship class 
> being offered
> at the school,  a year-round training facility for blind adults.
> In the class, blind students used spring-powered pellet guns to shoot at 
> targets.
> Boone said Cannon gave his verbal consent for the class; he denied that, 
> and said
> the class violated state safety and firearms rules.
> At the arbitration hearing, the record shows, Cannon argued Boone had 
> deceived him,
> intending to use the class to embarrass him.
> "It appears that there may well have been a misunderstanding or 
> miscommunication
> between Ms. Boone and Mr. Cannon," Long wrote. "Ms. Boone believed she had 
> Mr. Cannon's
> approval for the marksmanship class, while Mr. Cannon believes he had not 
> approved
> the class.  ... If one assumes both witnesses are telling the truth, there 
> was simply
> a misunderstanding, and not a work rule violation."
> The arbitrator said it was clear to all parties that firearms are not 
> allowed on
> state property, but less clear that the pellet guns used in class 
> constituted firearms.
> He noted that, "Mr. Cannon, after informing Ms. Boone that the pellet 
> rifles were
> "firearms," which are not allowed on state property, ordered Ms. Boone to 
> transport
> the pellet rifles to his office on state property in Lansing so that he 
> could examine
> them."
> "It has not been shown that the (Boone) purposely violated any of the 
> rules or regulations
> with which she is charged," the finding concludes.
> "There is not just cause for discipline or discharge in this matter."
> Boone, has been blind since birth. She was  hired as Director of the 
> Michigan Training
> Center  for the Blind in October, 2006 by the Michigan Commission for the 
> Blind.
> Best Regards,
> J.J. Meddaugh
> A T Guys
> Your Assistive Technology Experts
> (269) 216-4798
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