An arbitrator has ruled that the head of the union representing police and firefighters at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport can return to work nearly two years after he was fired from the airport’s fire department. But the outcome still depends on the resolution of a lawsuit filed last year in Providence Superior Court.
In a 67-page decision published Tuesday, arbitrator Sheila Mayberry found officials at the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) failed to prove its misconduct allegations against Steven Parent and had effectively decided to terminate him before giving him a chance to respond at a hearing.
“In terminating the grievant, RIAC disregarded almost every principle of just cause,” Mayberry wrote…