MPD claims court decision will force 1st lieutenants to also be demoted in rank structure fight with union
Ben Wheeler
In an email obtained by ABC24, MPD officials claim that the court decision to go through with the arbitration award on the 2nd Lt rank will also demote all 1st Lts.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Police Department officials have told all second lieutenants that the Memphis Police Association isn’t saying that all first lieutenants will also be demoted following a Shelby County Circuit Court’s decision on the rank structure.
In an email obtained by ABC24, MPD officials say, “What they haven’t told you is that not only would their proposition cause the demotion of the 2nd Lieutenants, but it would cause the demotion of every 1st Lieutenant promoted since 2023.”
“As you know, the 1st Lieutenant rank/title did not exist prior to the 2nd Lieutenant rank, city HR formally established this distinction to define and normalize these new classifications,” the email continues.
The email’s content stems from the continued fight between MPD and the MPA over the new rank structure for what the department is calling a first line supervisor.
It is labeled at the top Chief C.J Davis, Mayor Paul Young and the Administration but isn’t signed or labeled with any official letterhead.
MPA officials told ABC24 that they were made aware of the email after it was sent.
“The MPA was made aware of a communication from the administration that was distributed to the 2nd Lt.’s earlier this week that mentioned the possible demotion of 1st Lt.’s,” the MPA’s statement reads. “To be clear, the MPA has not contested nor filed a grievance over the 2023 First Lt.’s promotional process. There has been no ruling or order requiring the City to demote any officer at the rank of First Lt.”
City of Memphis Chief Legal Officer Tannera Gibson said in a statement to ABC24 that the city maintains that as a result of the current legal proceedings, first lieutenants would have to be demoted as well.
“The rank of 1st Lieutenant did not exist prior to the implementation of the 2nd Lieutenant classification, but the result of restructuring what was previously a singular Lieutenant rank,” Gibson’s statement reads. “By MPA demanding MPD return to the ‘status quo ante,’ which means ‘the previously existing state of affairs,’ 1st Lieutenants promoted under the new structure would necessarily be demoted.
“This is not a discretionary action by the City but a legal consequence of undoing the rank system that was put in place to create more frontline supervision and faster advancement opportunities within MPD.”
HOW THE FIGHT BEGAN
An arbitration ruling from March 9, 2024 found that MPD officials violated the memorandum of understanding agreement with the MPA after creating a new field supervision rank, second lieutenant. Discussions about the creation of a front line supervision rank date back to 2018, according to arbitration documents.
The rank circumvents prior eligibility requirements to become a lieutenant and allow officers a quicker pathway into management.
The rank would allow eligibility to those with five years of service, no time as a sergeant and exclude officers who had received certain discipline within the two years prior to the eligibility cutoff.
When siding with the union, the arbitration ruling was for the department to return to status quo and create a promotional committee to determine the path moving forward.
“These changes negatively impacted their promotional rights and opportunities. As a consequence of this contention, the Non-Party Police Officers cannot, at this stage of the proceeding, fully rely upon either party to represent their collective interest – which is to restore the status quo and eliminate the second lieutenant position as set forth in the Opinion and Award of Arbitrator.”
Those changes were never negotiated with the MPA, according to the arbitration judgement.
LEGAL BATTLE CONTINUES
Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Damita Dandridge ruled in favor of the Memphis Police Association to enforce the arbitration award that ruled City of Memphis officials violated its Memorandum of Understanding with the Memphis Police Association and that her ruling would be enforced.
The lawsuit was originally filed by lawyers for the Memphis Police Association before dozens of MPD sergeants signed on to join the suit in their individual capacity.
Dandridge ruled earlier in June that would not allow City of Memphis officials to put a stay on the ruling while they work through an appeal on the case in a higher court.
Now those in the rank of second lieutenant will have to be demoted while the parties go back to the bargaining table on how to create a first line supervisor role. City of Memphis officials said they would not proceed right away with the order and ultimately filed a motion for an emergency stay with the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The appeal is based around the belief that the arbitrator overstepped his authority during the initial fight over the rank.
“We stand firmly by that we need those supervisors in place,” MPD Chief Davis said following the ruling.
Attorney for the MPA, Deborah Godwin, said following the ruling that if the City of Memphis does not comply with the ruling that they could seek a contempt of court which could see sanctions against the city.
The email obtained by ABC24 goes on to say, “We will keep fighting before we demote nearly 200 officers who are not represented by a bargaining unit.”
Despite those rulings, the email on the fact that first lieutenants would have to be demoted runs counter to what MPD Chief Cerelyn ‘C.J.’ Davis said during testimony in court.
Davis is quoted in court transcripts as saying, “The Second Lieutenants list is a separate promotion that has absolutely no impact on the First Lieutenants list.”
City officials said that Davis’s quote from the transcript was about the promotions list and not the ranks themselves, maintaining that the first lieutenants promoted after December 2023 would be demoted as that role was a part of the rank restructuring that is the basis for the ongoing litigation.
Gibson’s statement said that because the two ranks were created together and are “operationally and structurally linked, removing one necessarily unravels the other.”
“Any change to that structure must be addressed comprehensively, and the City remains committed to pursuing a solution that protects both professional development opportunities and public safety,” Gibson’s statement reads.
MPD officials did not respond to requests for comment.
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