[nfbmi-talk] Arbitrator rules in favor of Christine Boone, former director of Michigan Commission

[J.J. Meddaugh]

Also, the entire ruling is linked to from that article.

Best Regards,
J.J. Meddaugh
A T Guys
Your Assistive Technology Experts
(269) 216-4798
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "joe harcz Comcast" <joeharcz at comcast.net>
To: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 1:47 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Arbitrator rules in favor of Christine 
Boone,former director of Michigan Commission


> Thanks JJ you beat me to the punch! Grin...
> ----- 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: [nfbmi-talk] 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
>> http://www.ATGuys.com
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