Report: Ex-Cop Says Metropolis Fired Him for Comp Declare| Staff Compensation Information

Thursday, April 8, 2021 | 237 | 0

According to media reports, a former Myrtle Beach police officer filed a lawsuit alleging the city fired him – instead of suspending him – as a punishment for filing an employee compensation claim.

The Sun News reports that Michael Dodd, who joined the Myrtle Beach Police Department in September 2016, was injured in a fight with a suspect in October 2018. He was unable to work and filed an employee compensation claim.

It is not clear from the reports and complaint posted online by CBS subsidiary WBTW whether the claim was accepted or rejected. The complaint only states that the city “refused to help (Dodd) in any way and brushed his injury and incident under the rug”.

It is also not clear whether this is the only lawsuit he has filed. Terminology is used in the complaint to suggest that he may also have filed an employee compensation claim for injuries sustained in a fight with another official on March 13, 2020.

According to the complaint, Dodd said he had given a junior officer a New York Police Department training manual, which was supposed to be a joke that suggested the other officer should return to training.

The junior officer tossed the training manual back to Dodd and it hit him in the face. Dodd, who says in the complaint that he “felt he was being attacked,” pushed the other officer, who fell on a table.

The other officer was unharmed. However, Dodd suffered an injury that required medical treatment and he didn’t see maximum medical improvement until April 2, 2020, according to the complaint.

Command staff suggested that the police suspend Dodd. But on April 8, the city administrator and police chief fired him instead.

Dodd said he was the only officer disciplined in combat, and the other officer “who never filed a labor compensation lawsuit” was not punished.

The complaint alleges that the city dismissed Dodd for filing a claim for damages and that the reasons for his termination were bogus.