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BALTIMORE FIRE FIGHTERS, LOCAL 734 IN THE

a/w INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF

FIRE FIGHTERS, AFL-CIO, CIRCUIT COURT

and FOR

BALTIMORE FIRE OFFICERS, LOCAL 964 BALTIMORE CITY

a/w INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF

FIRE FIGHTERS, AFL-CIO,

Case No. 24-C-08-001110

Plaintiffs

v.

MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, et al.,

Defendants.

0

–o0o-

“Plaintiff Unions,” Baltimore Fire Fighters, Local 734, IAFF, Baltimore Fire Officers,

Local 964, IAFF, and “City Defendants,” Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, Civil

Service Commission for Baltimore City, Gladys Gaskins, Director, Department of Human

Resources, and Department of Human Resources, stipulate and agree to the following:

1. The Plaintiff Unions and the City Defendants entered into an agreed order of

court dated March 7, 2008 (the “Court Order”), by which the Court ordered:

a. All parties shall arbitrate the issues raised by the Plaintiff Unions in their

grievance dated January 23, 2008;

b. The arbitration shall be conducted by an arbitrator who shall selected

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by the parties on or before March 13, 2008 and act under the auspices of the Federal

Mediation and Conciliation Service;

c. An arbitration hearing shall be conducted for the purposes of the taking

of evidence and legal argument on the issues raised by the Plaintiff Unions on dates to be

agreed by the parties between March 20, 2008 and April 10, 2008, and post-hearing briefs

shall be submitted to the arbitrator no later than April 25, 2008 ;

d. The question presented for arbitrator to decide shall be whether or not

the Director DHR acted within her proper authority to invalidate the Eligibles Lists for Fire

Department Lieutenant and Captain certified on July 2, 2007, and to order and conduct a “reexamination”

among the candidates, and if not, what shall be the remedy;

e. The arbitrator shall issue and deliver to the parties a final award and

remedy, if any, upon the question presented on or before May 5, 2008, and an accompanying

opinion containing the arbitrator’s rationale for the award shall be issued and delivered to the

parties by the arbitrator on or before June 6, 2008;

f. Pending the outcome of the arbitration, the DHR may notice and

conduct a second, or re-examination for Fire Department Lieutenant and Captain, on March

15, 2008, and all members of the Fire Department who sat for the promotional examinations

on June 2, 2007 shall be entitled to sit for the re-examinations on March 15, 2008;

g. The conduct of the re-examinations on March 15, 2008 shall be without

prejudice to or compromise of the issues and questions raised by the Plaintiff Unions and

their members to challenge the actions of the City Defendants about the 2007 examinations

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and Eligibles Lists subsequent to July 2, 2007;

h. The City Defendants shall keep strictly confidential and they shall

embargo the results of the March 15, 2008 Promotional Examination for Lieutenants and

Captains until such time as the arbitrator issues a final award and remedy on question

presented;

i. If Plaintiff Unions prevail in the arbitration, the results from the March

15, 2008 Promotional Re-Examinations shall not be disclosed, but, instead, all papers from

the March 15, 2008 Re-Examinations shall be discarded, and the Department of Human

Resources will not certify second Eligibles Lists for Lieutenant and Captain; instead,

promotions for Lieutenant and Captain will be made in accordance with the June 2, 2007

Eligibles Lists, which Lists shall be re-certified by the Department of Human Resources and

shall remain in effect through July 2, 2009; and

j. Once a final award is issued by the arbitrator, all promotions for

Lieutenant and Captain shall be made retroactive to the date on which the vacancy or

vacancies first occurred; and only those members who participated in the examinations,

whichever is validated, shall be eligible for promotion.

2. On March 26, 2008 and March 27, 2008, the Arbitration prescribed under ¶¶

a. through d. of the Court Order was tried before Labor Arbitrator Ira Jaffe, with closing

briefs yet to be filed.

3. Following the Arbitration hearing, the City Defendants reconsidered their

position on the issues raised by the Plaintiff Unions, and upon a request made by the Fire

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Department dated April 15, 2008, the original eligibles lists first certified by the Director

DHR and dated July 2, 2007 for Captain and Lieutenant were reinstated, were certified as

valid and were delivered for use by the Fire Department on April 16, 2008. The Fire

Department also publicly advised the press of its intention fill existing and future vacancies

through July 2, 2009 by promotions made from the eligibles lists of July 7, 2007, without

revision of those lists.

4. With these events, the issues grieved by the Plaintiff Unions as to the viability

of the eligibles lists of July 2, 2007 and the question presented under the Court Order have

been rendered moot. The Plaintiff Unions shall withdraw their grievance dated January 23,

2008 from Arbitration, with prejudice, upon completion of the promotions and payment of

back pay as provided in ¶ 5, to follow..

5. The City Defendants shall implement the terms of ¶¶ 1.i. and 1.j., above, as

provided in the Court Order, on or before May 7, 2008, by making promotions to the existing

vacancies in Captain and Lieutenant from the top of each eligibles list as first certified on

July 2, 2007, without revision of either eligibles list or the priority order of the candidates

named on either eligibles list. All such promotions shall take effect retroactive to the date

of the vacancy filled by each promotion, with back pay and benefits to the members so

promoted. The back pay due shall be calculated and paid to the members promoted, in full,

on or before June 15, 2008. All subsequent promotions through July 2, 2009 shall be made

by the City Defendants following the standing practice of promotions from the top of the list.

6. To satisfy ¶¶ 1.h. and 1.i., above, the City Defendants shall destroy all test

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materials from the March 15, 2008 examinations in the presence of Union Officials within

the next fourteen days, on a date and at a time and place to be mutually agreed.

7. These terms shall be subordinate to and shall implement the terms of the Court

Order dated March 7, 2008. These terms shall not affect or waive the right of a member to

challenge any discipline imposed on the member on account of the 2007 examinations or the

OIG investigation that followed, nor shall any member be denied or postponed in receipt of

a promotion off of the 2007 eligibles list(s) as a result of such discipline.

UNION PLAINTIFFS: CITY DEFENDANTS:

BALTIMORE FIRE FIGHTERS MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL

LOCAL 734, IAFF OF BALTIMORE

By:___________________________ By:____________________________

BALTIMORE FIRE OFFICERS CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION,

LOCAL 964, IAFF DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN

RESOURCES, AND DIRECTOR

By:____________________________ DHR, GLADYS B. GASKINS

By:___________________________

Gladys B. Gaskins, Director

Approved as to form and contents:

MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF

BALTIMORE

By:___________________________

For the City Law Department