Superior Court judge makes decision in Rehoboth officer case

A Delaware Superior Court judge has granted the City of Rehoboth Beach’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a former city police officer claiming he was wrongfully terminated in 2019.

The case traces back to September 2017, when officer Eric Hiller and another officer transported a female defendant to Sussex Correctional Institution. The woman accused Hiller of inappropriate behavior during the transport. That claim was investigated by the department and Hiller was ultimately fired as a result.

Rehoboth’s police officers are represented by the General Teamsters Union, Local 326, and the union has a collective bargaining agreement with the city that governs the procedures for disciplinary actions against individual officers.  

The CBA allows the city to discipline officers for just cause as established by substantial evidence, with discipline doled out in progressive fashion except for the most extreme situations. In addition, the CBA incorporates the state’s law enforcement officer’s bill of rights, which further regulates disciplinary procedures and entitles officers to hearings to dispute any charges that led to disciplinary actions.

Rehoboth’s CBA calls for a three-step plan to resolve disputes: first are informal resolution discussions within the department. Should that fail, the employee or the union can submit a written grievance to the chief of police. The chief’s action can then be appealed to the city manager, and if that is not satisfactory, the union can file a grievance with the American Arbitration Association. 

Hiller initially claimed that the department violated his rights as spelled out in the officer’s bill of rights and the CBA after being charged with multiple violations of police procedure and policy in July 2018. The investigation continued into 2019, and in March of that year, the department issued its findings, leading to charges against Hiller for violating the rules of professional standards during an investigation, dishonesty and violating the rules of conduct. 

Hiller then went to an impartial trial board, which dismissed the dishonesty and rules of conduct charges but sustained the professional standards charge. The board also found the department committed multiple violations of the officer’s bill of rights during its investigation. Nonetheless, the city fired Hiller in July 2019. Hiller appealed his termination, which the city denied.

Hiller took his case to Delaware Superior Court, first filing a mandamus action, asking the court to overturn his termination and reinstate him as an officer. The court denied Hiller’s action, agreeing that the city had just cause to fire him. 

In December 2021, Hiller filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming breach of contract, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. 

In response, the city filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Hiller lacked standing to enforce the contractual obligations of the CBA, and even if he did, the CBA requires disputes to be solved by binding arbitration, not the court. 

Judge Danielle Brennan agreed with the city, saying in her decision that Hiller lacked standing to enforce contractual agreements in the CBA and that the court does not have jurisdiction over Hiller’s claims. She said Hiller had failed to abide by the CBA and that the agreement states that disciplinary disputes should be settled through binding arbitration.