(CN) - A city inspector was properly suspended for telling a customer to "kiss (his) ass" over the city radio system, the Mississippi Court of Appeals ruled.
Rondell Young, a building-code enforcement administrator in Biloxi, was suspended for three days as a result of the incident. Young was dealing with customers live and on the phone when clerk Caryle Draper asked him over the radio system if he would perform an inspection that day.
"(Young) said he did not know when he was going to get to it and that if they didn't like it, they could kiss his ass," Draper testified.
Young sued to overturn his suspension, but the trial court sided with the city.
On appeal, Young argued that he was actually suspended as retaliation for disputes with his supervisor, community development director Jerry Creel. According to Young, Creel called him "unprofessional and immature" in a memo for allegedly writing "disrespectful memos."
The appeals court ruled that the suspension was based on Draper's credible testimony.
"Draper testified that she was sure she heard Young's comment correctly," Judge Joe Lee wrote. "We find that sufficient evidence was presented for the (Biloxi Civil Service) Commission to find that it was Young's inappropriate comment, not the memoranda, that led to the suspension."
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines April 17, 2024 -
-
Contributor-Test-Post-2024-04-12 April 12, 2024 -
