17-year saga over one off-duty incident shows how little control employers have once a CBA kicks in
A court has just told a unionized employer it can't override its arbitrator – even on a firing it badly wanted. HR leaders, this one matters.
On May 21, 2026, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals upheld an arbitrator's ruling that reduced the firing of Metropolitan Police Department Officer Michael Thomas to a 45-day suspension. The employer had pushed for termination. The arbitrator said no. The court has now backed the arbitrator.
For any HR professional working under a collective bargaining agreement, the case is a sharp lesson in where management's authority actually ends.
The incident behind the case happened in 2009. Off duty and outside his jurisdiction in Hyattsville, Maryland, Thomas heard his car alarm, retrieved his holstered weapon, and went outside. He encountered Julio Lemus, who was unarmed. Thomas fired twice, seriously injuring Lemus and nearly killing him. The State's Attorney Office for Prince George's County declined to bring charges against either man, finding no evidence of criminal activity.
MPD's internal reviews were split. The arbitrator who later heard the case found Thomas's conduct reckless. He found Thomas had violated MPD's deadly force rules and engaged in reckless endangerment under Maryland law. But he also found termination too severe. He cut the penalty to a 45-day suspension – matching the discipline MPD had previously imposed on another officer, Edward Ford, in what the arbitrator described as the closest comparable misconduct in evidence.
MPD challenged the award. It argued the arbitrator's decision was contrary to law and contrary to public policy. It pointed to a D.C. statute that bars people previously found to have committed serious misconduct from being hired as MPD officers. The argument: if the law won't let you hire them, it shouldn't force you to keep them.
The court rejected the argument. Senior Judge Thompson, writing for the majority, relied on the long-standing principle that the public-policy exception to enforcing an arbitral award is extremely narrow. Courts will set aside an award only in the clearest of cases and with great caution.
This is the part HR leaders should sit with. When discipline runs through a CBA and into arbitration, the arbitrator's decision generally holds – even when the employer believes the conduct fully justifies dismissal. Courts will not second-guess the call just because they would have reached a different result.
The opinion walks through the kinds of cases where courts have overturned reinstatements: abuse of vulnerable victims, repeated dishonesty, refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing, or sanctions so lenient they offend public policy. None of those, the court found, applied here. Thomas had no prior disciplinary history. The arbitrator did not find him dishonest. The penalty included a suspension without pay for more than six weeks, and the arbitrator suggested mandatory retraining and, as needed, counseling and education.
The policy backdrop matters too. After George Floyd's murder, the D.C. Council passed the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, which made discipline of sworn officers a sole management right – no longer something to be negotiated. But the Council delayed the change so it would not interfere with existing collective bargaining agreements. Thomas's case sat in that window.
For HR, the practical lessons are clear. If your CBA sends discipline to arbitration, the arbitrator holds the pen. Build the record before you propose termination. Document comparator decisions consistently. Avoid one-off severity that an arbitrator can easily soften. If similar conduct has previously drawn a lesser penalty, expect that to weigh on the outcome.
Associate Judge Beckwith dissented. In her view, the statute barring people who have committed felonious conduct from MPD service should logically apply to keeping them on the force too. The majority disagreed.
The decision is final at the D.C. Court of Appeals level.
