County of Door Human Resources County Government Center 421 Nebraska Street Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Kelly A. Hendee Human Resources Director (920) 746-2305 khendee@co.door.wi.us WM To: Aaron LeClair, Paramedic SWAT From: Kelly Hendee, Human Resources Director, You are required to attend and participate in an investigatory meeting. This meeting will take place at 03:00 pm. on Wednesday, February 5, 2014, at the Door County Justice Center. Re: Initial investigatory Meeting Date: February 5, 2014 Mr. LeClair: The subject matter of the investigatory meeting concerns serious allegations of misconduct. Speci?cally: tampering with, knowingly allowing someone to tamper with, or failure to report the fact that someone had tampered with vials of Fentanyl, a Schedule 2 opiate; - administering, knowineg allowing someone to administer, or failure to report the fact that patient(s) had been administered Fentanyl, a Schedule 2 opiate from vials that had been tampered with. a diversion of Fentanyl, a Schedule 2 opiate from patients. The initial investigatory meeting may result in disciplinary action. Therefore, you have a right to have a union representative present during this meeting. You may be asked to divulge potentially incriminating information during the course of this meeting. Please be informed that any answers you provide are protected from use in subsequent criminal proceedings [Siec ?GarriM (1967) 385 US. 493]. Therefore you may not refuse to answer questions without risking disciplinary action for insubordination and/or any adverse inference County may draw from your silence . Your attendance at and participation in the investigatory meeting is mandatory. If you refuse to attend or fail to participate in the investigatory meeting disciplinary action, up to and including discharge, maybe imposed. cc: Michael Woodzicka, IAFF County of Door HUMAN RESOURCES County Government Center 421 Nebraska Street Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Kelly A. Hendee Human Resources Department (920) 746-2306 khendee@co.door.wi.us COPY This is in follow up to yesterday?s initial investigatory interview, February 6,2014 Aaron LeClair, Paramedic/ EMT Re: investigation Suspension Dear Mr. LeClair: As relayed orally, you are hereby suspended with (for the time being) pay. This status is subject to change, depending on what is revealed during the course of the investigation o_r the status of your Paramedic credentials. You are required to attend and participate in a follow-up investigatory meeting. This meeting will take place at 1:00 pm. on Friday, February 7, 2014, at my office. This follow?up investigatory meeting may result in disciplinary action. Therefore, you have a right to have a union representative present during this meeting. You may be asked to divulge potentially incriminating information during the course ofthis meeting. Please be informed that any answers you provide are protected from use in subsequent criminal proceedings gee: ?Garrity? (1967) 385 U. S. 493]. Therefore, you may not refuse to answer questions without risking disciplinary action for insubordination and/or any adverse inference County may draw from your silence. Your attendance at and participation in the follow?up investigatory meeting is mandatory. if you refuse to attend orfail to participate in the investigatory meeting disciplinary action, up to and including discharge, may be imposed. Kelly A. Human Resources Director cc: Michael Woodzicka, IAFF COPY Kelly A. Hendee Human Resources Department (920) 746-2308 khendee@co.door.wi.us County of Door HUMAN RESOURCES County Government Center 421 Nebraska Street- Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 February 25, 2014 Aaron LeClair, Paramedic EMT RE: Disciplinary Action - Written Reprimand Dear Mr. LeClair: Door County's investigation is deemed complete. It has been determined that, by virtue of your acts or omissions from on or about January 9, 2014?February 5, 2014, you engaged in misconduct. Grounds for this determination are set forth in the records, reports, and transcripts of persons interviewed, and include the following: A. OmissionsRelated To Instancels) of Tampering With Fe ntanyl Vials I On Thursday January 9, 2014, you and Chris Jeanquart went to the Door County Medical Center Pharmacy and picked up, among other things, ten (10) Fentanyl vials. I Sometime, from January 9th through January 20th, Chris Jeanquart tampered with Fentanyl vials retrieved the Fentanyl vials from the locked refrigerator; then removed the protective caps from the vials and applied glue to the underside of each protective cap and reinstalled the protective caps o_r injected glue underneath the protective cap of each vial; placed a foil seal over the top of each vial; then returned the vials to the locked refrigerator, effectively placing the tampered vials into service). I Sometime on or afterJanuary 9th and priorto January 29*, you became aware of Mr. Jeanquart?s tampering with the Fentanyl vials. Yet you failed to take any action to removethe Fentanyl vials from service and did not report Mr. Jeanquart?s action to your supervisor or the EMS Medical Director. I As a Paramedic, you have the highest level oftraining and in fact are the only EMS personnel authorized to administer narcotic drugs, such as Fentanyl. I As a Paramedic, you are held to minimally acceptable standards of conduct. These standards of conduct are reasonably necessary for the protection of patients and the public. I You?ve been a working Paramedic for nearly ten years. I You knew or reasonably should have known that: the primary purpose ofthe protective cap on each vial of Fentanyl is to safeguard against contamination; once the protective cap is damaged or removed, or a foreign substance is introduced to the underside ofthe protective cap, there is potential for contamination and the vial is compromised;? a compromised vial of Fentanyl is not to be administered to a patient, should be removed from service, and ?wasted?. I Your omissions, in failing to remove the Fentanyl vials from service or report Mr. Jeanquart?s actions to your supervisor or the EMS Medical Director, fell below minimally acceptable standards of conduct for a Paramedic with your education, experience, and training. I The principal mitigating factors here are: your (unwise but excusable) reliance on the (untrue) representations made by your co?worker, Chris Jeanquart; gidthat your errors were ones of omission not commission, and this is a situation where the omission commission distinction makes a difference. B. [nsubordinationz I On February 5, 2014, you were directed to report to the Door County Justice Center for an investigatory interview, to answer questions which could be used as a basis for discipline against you. I After receiving notice that you were the subject of an investigation, but before reporting for the investigatory interview as directed, you went to Door County's Central Ambulance Station. I While there, you elected to confront your supervisor, interim Director/ Operations Manager Anthony Luchini. This confrontation occurred in the garage area ofthe Ambulance Station, in (potential or actual) view/ hearing of other employees and visitors. You proceeded to engage in a one?sided heated?exchange with Mr. Luchini, addressed derogatory and profane language at Mr. Luchini, and attempted to intimidate Mr. Luchini by hostile body language and demeanor. I Your statement "What happens in house gets handled in house? and like comments are of concern. These statements suggest an inclination, on your part, to place loyalty to fellow employees over other more important considerations transparency, professionalism, and patient care). I Your conduct was not the result of an error iniudgment, but rather was deliberate. I Under the circumstances your conduct did (or tended to) damage Door County?s interests as an employer (in avoiding disruptions, maintaining discipline, and sustaining good working relationships in the workplace) and as a provider of emergency medical services (reflected poorly on Door County and cast EMS in a bad light). I The context in which this occurred, as described above, is an aggravating factor. I Your conduct violated the Handbook rules, specifically Section Miscellaneous Rules and Working Conditions; subsection hAppearance and Demeanor. The errors or omissions and conduct described above are not acceptable, and will not be further tolerated. Mitigating circumstances exist. These include the fact that you do not have any history of prior discipline, and that you have demonstrated some insight and judgment, and expressed regret, with respect to what occurred. I have taken these mitigating circumstances into consideration. Just cause exists for disciplinary action. This letter is intended as a written warning. in addition, you are required to attend counseling/ training to address anger management, superior~ subordinate and peer-to?peer relationships and communications, within the workplace. Such counseling will be through ACHIEVE, Consulting Division of ERC, 1511 W. Main Avenue, Suite 100, DePere, Wi 54115, or 800?222-8590, please ask and speak to Mr. Jim Pecard who you are to contact posthaste and schedule counseling/training session(s). Further deficiencies or problems will lead to additional disciplinary action. Such discipline includes discharge. The purpose ofthis disciplinary action is three fold. First, it serves the interests of fairness by alerting you to the misconduct and offering you an opportunity to avoid further misconduct. Second, it should impress upon you the inappropriateness of your conduct. Finally, it provides you notice of the consequences of continued unsatisfactory behavior. A copy ofthis letter has been furnished to Michael Woodzicka, IAFF. This letter will be placed in your personnel file. Please contact me if you have any questions or comments. Sincerely, ?gmee Human Resources Director I acknowledge receipt of the original of this letter this ?day of February, 2014. . Aura/n LeClalr cc: Michael Woodzicka, Human Resources Department File Grant P. Thomas, Corporation Counsel