FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A statewide commission has ruled that the Broward Sheriff’s Office reinstate a union president who was suspended by the sheriff last year.
It has been more than one year since Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association President Jeff Bell was suspended with pay from his job, but the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission said he should get his job back.
“I deserve to come back to work, rightfully so, and the courts have even ruled that,” Bell said. “It was very lopsided, in our opinion, and it was lopsided in our favor.”
Bell was suspended in April 2020 by Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony days after Bell wrote an editorial in the Sun Sentinel criticizing Tony’s reaction to the pandemic. In the headline, Bell wrote “BSO Sheriff Gregory Tony is failing all of us during the coronavirus crisis.”
Tony fired back at the editorial immediately.
“For any rogue employee to come off and present these comments that we have failed this community and failed the men and women that we are leading is despicable,” Tony said.
“He’s not rogue,” Bell’s attorney said in response. “He’s doing his job.”
More than a year later, Florida said Bell should get his old job back, ordering the sheriff’s office to “rescind the suspension of IUPA President Jeff Bell” and “pay IUPA its reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.”
BSO General Counsel Terrence Lynch said in a statement, “The Broward Sheriff’s Office is aware of the ruling by the Public Employees Relations Commission. At this point, BSO is reviewing the decision and considering its legal options.”
Bell said he looks forward to returning to his old post and hopes he and the sheriff can find common ground.
“I don’t want to be friends. I don’t want to have dinner,” Bell said. “I don’t want to be able to call him every single day, but when something serious happens, we should be able to communicate with each other via the phone or in person and resolve those issues.”
The sheriff’s office has 30 days to appeal the state’s decision.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.