The City of Sidney customarily refrains from public comment in connection with matters involving the discipline and discharge of its employees, however, due to the recent dissemination of misinformation relating to the discharge of Joshua Divens, former Sidney Police Sergeant, the following information is being provided to the public for its consideration and understanding:
- On September 26, 2019, an arbitration hearing was conducted pursuant to a grievance filed by former Sgt. Divens, with the issue before the Arbitrator being whether the City of Sidney had just cause to terminate the employment of Sgt. Divens, and if not, what would be the remedy.
- On December 21, 2019, the Arbitrator’s Decision and Award was delivered to the City.
- The Arbitrator held that Sgt. Divens’ discharge was justified, and, concluded as follows:
The evidence demonstrates Grievant engaged in serious misconduct, including intentional falsification of his activity log and telephone log. Dishonesty is sufficient to justify discharge without following other steps in the progressive discipline process. There is no sufficient evidence of bias and no sufficient mitigating factors to offset the decision to discharge Grievant. The grievance is denied
The full content of the Arbitrator’s Decision and Award has been posted online.