Montville — The town violated the Municipal Employee Relations Act by changing the work hours of former school resource officer Karen Moorehead, launching an internal affairs investigation of her and reassigning her from the school position after she filed several grievances, a state Board of Labor Relations panel has ruled.

In a 2-1 decision. the board ordered the town to reimburse Moorehead for any lost wages, including overtime compensation, from Oct. 22, 2012, when the union filed a grievance on her behalf, through February 2013, when the town hired a civilian campus security officer.

The fiscal impact of the ruling was not immediately available, and Mayor Ronald McDaniel Jr. and Finance Director Theresa Hart could not be reached for comment. Moorehead also could not be reached.

Chairwoman Patricia V. Low and members Wendella Ault Battey and Barbara J. Collins comprise the labor relations board. Low wrote a dissenting opinion saying the town had legitimate and nondiscriminatory reasons for its actions.

Moorehead, hired in 1999, was assigned as the school resources officer prior to the start of the 2011-12 school year, according to the decision. Following a meeting between Resident Trooper Troy Gelinas and Superintendent Pam Aubin, Gelinas agreed that Moorehead's shift would begin at 7 a.m. She reported to police headquarters at 7 a.m. and typically arrived at the high school between 7:20 and 7:30 a.m.

In June 2012, Sgt. Martin Martinez became the resident state trooper for the town. In early August of 2012, he met with the superintendent and they discussed adjusting the school resource officer's start time to coincide with the arrival of the first bus at 7 a.m. The issued was raised, according to the decision, because several years earlier, there had been a stabbing at the school during the early morning bus arrivals.

In mid-August, Moorehead complained to the state police equal opportunity officer about Martinez's cellphone ringtone, a clip of dialogue from the movie Blazing Saddles that said, "Where the white women at?" Moorehead said she was offended and embarrassed when she walked into roll call, heard the ringtone, and Martinez said, "Oh, look, she just walked in," prompting laughter from the eight or 10 officers in the room. Martinez's supervisor told him to remove the ringtone and he complied, according to the decision.

On Aug. 28, 2012, Martinez told Moorehead he expected her to arrive at the high school by 7 a.m., meaning she would have to report to the police department at about 6:50 a.m. Moorehead objected, filed a grievance alleging Martinez was changing her hours in violation of the collective bargaining agreement and continued to report to the police department at 7 a.m., according to the decision. Mayor McDaniel denied the grievance on Sept. 28, 2012.

On Oct. 18, Martinez ordered Moorehead to comply with the order or she would be considered insubordinate, in violation of a direct order from a superior officer. Moorehead complied. On Oct. 22, 2012, the union filed a grievance alleging the town violated the union contract by changing Moorehead's hours without five days advance notice. McDaniel denied the grievance.

In November 2012, Moorehead's handling of sexual assault complaints became the subject of an internal affairs investigation after Sgt. Dennis Mathers, searching a town database, came across three of Moorehead's sexual assault case reports that he considered deficient and a fourth that was coded incorrectly. While discussing the investigation with Sgt. William Bundy, Martinez referred to Moorehead as a crazy (expletive). Martinez said she had made a complaint against him and that he needed to get rid of her, according to the decision.

In December 2012, Lt. Samuel Izzarelli recommended to the mayor that Moorehead be removed as school resource officer because she was accused of failing to properly investigate cases involving complaints of sexual assaults of minors. She was reassigned as of Jan. 2, 2013. On April 10, 2013, Moorehead was exonerated by the Bureau of Professional Standards and Compliance, which wrote that her actions were "justified, lawful and proper."

The board ordered the town to post its decision for 60 days "in a conspicuous place where the employees of the bargaining unit customarily assemble." Also, the town is required to notify the labor relations board within 30 days of the steps it has taken.

k.florin@theday.com

Twitter: @KFLORIN