Pittsburgh, former police officer battling in court over termination

Pittsburgh last month paid more than $163,000 to a former police officer who was reinstated with back pay after being fired three years ago in connection with an alleged road rage incident.

The officer, however, hasn’t returned to work, and an ongoing legal imbroglio is far from over.

The chain of events began in 2017 when Robert Kramer was charged with pointing a gun at another motorist while driving when he was off duty. An Allegheny County jury in 2018 acquitted him of a simple assault charge, and an arbitration panel last year ordered Pittsburgh to return him to duty with retroactive pay and benefits.

Pittsburgh appealed the arbitration ruling to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Donald R. Walko Jr. upheld the arbitrator’s ruling, and the city filed a second appeal. That second appeal is pending before Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court.

The city paid Kramer $163,692 in retroactive pay on Jan. 31 as part of Walko’s ruling but has yet to return him to duty. It contends that Kramer has yet to be recertified by the state to work as a police officer, according to court documents.

Kramer claims he was injured on the job before his termination and must be cleared by a doctor to return.

Robert Swartzwelder, president of Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge 1, said Kramer cleared about $90,000 in back pay after the city deducted for such things as taxes and unemployment compensation. He said the city also wrongly deducted for health care benefits. Those benefits were terminated after officials fired Kramer, Swartzwelder said.

“They wrongly deducted more than $4,000 for medical benefits that the city had canceled when Kramer was terminated,” Swartzwelder said. “Now, there’s a motion to show cause before Judge Walko because the city hasn’t fully complied with the arbitrator’s decision.”

Swartzwelder said the city hasn’t reinstated Kramer to active duty, which was stipulated by the arbitrator. The FOP, he said, has filed a motion with Walko seeking an order for reinstatement.

Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, declined comment.

Meanwhile, an FOP complaint is pending before the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board alleging an unfair labor practice, and Kramer has sued the city in federal court alleging malicious prosecution, fabrication of evidence and racial discrimination.