Court Upholds Firing|of ‘Officer of the Year’

(CN) - A former "Police Officer of the Year" was properly fired for downloading revealing photos of his female supervisor onto a CD and writing "job security" on it, the Utah Court of Appeals ruled.

Jack Guenon appealed the decision of the Midvale City Employee Appeals Board, which upheld the police chief's decision to fire him.

The board ruled that Guenon committed two acts of insubordination, mishandled evidence, stole or appropriated private property and viewed the images.

The insubordination charges stem from an incident in which Guenon downloaded photos of a female supervisor standing in the presence of children while wearing a negligee that showed portions of her breasts.

He admitted to downloading the photos in order to give "shit" to his supervisor, according to the board.

Months later, Guenon sent the photos to the Utah attorney general and complained that they violated the state's lewdness statute. The insubordination came into play because Guenon allegedly violated the chain of command by going over the heads of his supervisors.

A second such incident took place when Guenon took his safety concerns about improper firearms storage directly to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

Judge Carolyn McHugh ruled that while Guenon's concerns about the explosives were made in good faith and protected by the Whistleblower Act, the complaint about the negligee photos was not.

"Officer Guenon wrote 'job security' on the CD, and then waited for at least six months to deliver the photographs to the attorney general."

Despite Guenon's 2004 Officer of the Year award and other commendations, McHugh agreed with the board's decision to fire him.

"Given the serious nature of Officer Guenon's violation of department policies, termination was an appropriate sanction," McHugh wrote.

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