Attorneys for Leelanau County and the Police Officers Association of Michigan met with a union arbitrator last week as part of a continuing dispute between Sheriff Michael Oltersdorf and the union representing a deputy who the sheriff has been unable to fire permanently.

Oltersdorf fired Deputy Bruce Beeker in April 2006 after the deputy was accused of “severe misconduct” for befriending a woman who was under investigation in a domestic violence case. A union arbitrator subsequently ruled that Beeker was wrongfully terminated and ordered that he be returned to duty if he could pass a psychological evaluation.

Beeker failed one test, passed another, and then in August 2007 passed a third tie-breaking psychological evaluation. In keeping with an arbitration agreement, Beeker was returned to duty with the Sheriff’s Department with back pay and benefits. Beeker’s annual salary is about $42,000.

However, Oltersdorf has refused to issue Beeker a badge or gun, or allowed him to wear a uniform. Since late August, Beeker has been manning a “complaints desk” in the Sheriff’s outer office.

In September, Beeker filed a union grievance claiming he had been prevented from working overtime and receiving overtime pay as allowed by a union contract, and that he had been prevented from entering a squad room where overtime and other notices are placed on bulletin boards.

In November 2007, the Police Officers Association of Michigan filed a complaint in Circuit Court in Leelanau County against the county and Oltersdorf.

An attorney for the sheriff and Leelanau County, John R. McGlinchy of Lansing, told the Enterprise this week that a union arbitrator last week heard arguments from attorneys representing both sides of the dispute. He said that attorneys would be required to submit written post-hearing arguments in the coming weeks, possibly leading to a ruling by the arbitrator sometime in the coming months.

McGlinchy said he expected the arbitrator to rule on at least two issues. One issue involves the union grievance itself – specifically, that Beeker was prevented from seeking overtime as allowed by the union contract.

The other issue to be considered by the arbitrator, McGlinchy said, involves the sheriff’s statutory authority to deputize certain individuals – or not deputize them – as well the sheriff’s statutory authority to assign Sheriff’s Department personnel to certain duties as he sees fit. McGlinchy explained that the arbitrator would be required to rule on whether the sheriff’s statutory authority in those cases can even be the subject of arbitration.

An attorney for the Police Officers Association of Michigan did not return a reporter’s phone call.