Scott Kennedy was a correctional officer (CO) in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He also served in various positions in his union and was president from 2019 to 2023. Kennedy had an aggressive style as president and did not get along with Warden Kline or Director of Human Resources Alexis Bevan. In October 2021, Kennedy testified before the prison board that Kline and Bevan were wasting money on litigating discipline against him, key details of which Kline and Bevan were withholding from the board. Kline and Bevan were in attendance during this meeting, and thereafter refused to accept or return Kennedy’s phone calls.
In August 2022, Kennedy’s girlfriend made domestic assault allegations against him and he was subject to felony and misdemeanor charges. Kennedy reported the charges to the County, which were dropped before trial. In October 2022, Kennedy pled guilty to two summary non-traffic citations for off-duty public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. He did not report the citations to the County. Later that month, the County learned of the citations, placed Kennedy on unpaid administrative leave pending an investigation, and ultimately terminated his employment. The Union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the state labor relations board for unlawfully discriminating against Kennedy on the basis of his protected union activity. In particular, the Union alleged that the County’s true motivation for terminating Kennedy was the October 2021 prison board meeting in which he antagonized Kline and Bevan, and the subsequent fallout.
At the ULP hearing, Kennedy testified that in his experience as a CO and a union officer, he was unaware of any CO being suspended or discharged for failure to report a summary offense. Another Union witness corroborated this point. The subsequent Union president, Ryan Perry, testified that Kline indicated on multiple occasions that he believed Perry to be easier to work with than Kennedy. The Union provided evidence of another County employee who kept her job despite incurring a DUI charge in which she was four times over the legal limit for blood alcohol content. The County provided evidence of a CO who was terminated after failing to report a DUI, and another CO who was terminated for violating the County policy allowing discipline for certain off-duty, criminal activity. Ultimately, the labor board sided with the Union, concluding that it met its burden of proof that Kennedy was terminated due to anti-union animus.
To support that conclusion, the Board focused on both direct and indirect evidence of anti-union animus. Directly, Kline indicated to Kennedy’s successor that Kennedy was difficult to work with, and both Kline and Bevan avoided Kennedy’s communications in his role as Union president. Indirectly, the Union established that no CO had previously been terminated for failing to report a summary criminal offense. The Board emphasized the fact that the County took no disciplinary action against Kennedy when he faced serious felony and misdemeanor charges earlier in 2022, further undermining its stated rationale for discipline. The Board also accepted the Union’s comparator evidence regarding another County employee who kept her job after a serious DUI charge and rejected the County’s comparator evidence of two employees who were terminated for misdemeanor – not criminal charges. The Board ordered Kennedy’s reinstatement with backpay.
United Mine Workers of America, Local 522 v. Westmoreland County, PERA-C-23-41-W, 2023 WL 7144568 (Pa. Labor Relations Board 2023).