AIRPORT SYSTEM

DATE: ebruaiy 5, 2020
TO: Demari Garth
FROM: Cheryl Hawkins, HR Administrator

SUBJECT: Pre?Disciplinary Hearing January 10, 2020
OUTCOME: One (1) dav suspension

This notice is to inform you that you are being issued a one (1) day suspension for violation of Civil
Service Rule 9.10-1 neglect of duty, 9.10-5 conduct unbecoming, 9.10-2 AWOL and the City of
Cleveland Human Resources Policies and Procedures Manual, Section A Bene?ts Policies and
Procedures, Vacation Policy, A-18 for incidents on January 3 and January 6, 2020. You are to serve your
suspension without pay on Wednesday, February 12, 2020, returning on the next scheduled work
day.

On January 6, 2020 Deputy Commissioner Gordon called the ARFF station for Chief Demari Garth. He
was informed that he was not at work and he was going to be out of town for the next 3days. Deputy
Commissioner Gordon immediately called Demari and asked him why he was not at work. Chief Garth
stated that he was in Las Vegas for a hockey tournament. Deputy Commissioner Gordon then asked him
why he was not made aware of his time off and asked if he submitted vacation paperwork to support the
time off request. He informed him that he thought he did. However, he then realized he didn?t submit the
vacation request after all. Without an approved vacation request or any noti?cation to Deputy
Commissioner Gordon, Chief Garth was considered AWOL on January 6, 2020. Chief Garth submitted
the required paperwork for time off on January 6, 2020 at 11:47 am.

After the initial hearing was held for the incident above on January 10, 2020, management discovered that
Chief Garth was also out of the of?ce the previous Friday, January 3, 2020. Again this was without
proper noti?cations to Deputy Commissioner Gordon and without submitting a vacation request in
advance of his trip. Mr. Garth submitted his vacation request and timesheet on January 13, 2020 making
management aware of his time off. Therefore, Chief Garth was also AWOL on January 3, 2020.

On January 10, 2020 a pre-disciplinary hearing was held with you, Jeff Gordon, Deputy Commissioner,
Commissioner Khalid Bahhur Cheryl Hawkins, Human Resources. At the hearing you stated that your
ARFF team was aware of your being out of the of?ce because it was on the schedule. You did not have a
viable explanation for violating Civil Service Rules or Policy.

On January 17, 2020 this same group of people reconvened for another hearing after additional
information regarding another occurrence of AWOL was brought to management?s attention as noted
above. Chief Garth gave a similar explanation as to why he did not follow proper protocols in requesting
bene?t time off and notifying his management. After hearing your explanation of the incident we have
determined that your explanations were not credible. You did not provide any evidence or explanation of
ajusti?able reason for failing to notify and/or request bene?t time off.

Your position as ARFF Chief is vital to the safety of our airports. If the airport was in an alert situation
requiring your immediate response, the executive management team would assume you are responding to
the incident. Having to ?nd out during an event that you were not present or could not respond would
impede upon DPC being able to respond to the incident in the most expeditious and effective manner. As
a person in a very visible leadership role, you are held to a high standard and must uphold policy and
procedure as you are setting an example for your section.

The expectation moving forward is for you to keep your superiors informed of when you will be awa;
a period of time prior to the event occurrence. You should submit proper documentation for pre-appr
following the City of Cleveland Human Resources Policies and Procedures. 

Please be advised that the next occurrence or future incidents will result in progressive discipline.

Thank you.

cc: Dina Wilson, Interim Chief Human Resources Organizational Effectiveness
Khalid Bahhur, Commissioner
Jeff Gordon, Deputy Commissioner, Operations Security
William Bass, HR Administrator
Lisa Bella, HR Administrator (Payroll)
Employee Personnel File