CLEVELAND — A civil service hearing referee said Cleveland Assistant Safety Director Jakimah Dye should not have been terminated after crashing a city car with four children inside.
Robert Lustig, Hearing Referee, recommended that Dye be suspended for 30 days for violating civil service rules and city policies related to the use of a city-owned vehicle.
"The penalty of termination should be denied as it is not supported by the facts," according to Lustig's report and recommendation. "Given consideration to all relevant factors, including Ms. Dye's unblemished 13-year history with the city, I would recommend a 30-day suspension."
What happened
News 5 Investigators reported Dye was leaving a basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 17, when her city car, a 2015 Ford Taurus, "slipped and impacted the car" in front of her on Warrensville Center Road.
In Dye's initial report about the crash, she omitted that four children were inside the car with her, which violates the city's vehicle use policy, according to the referee.
The referee's report also said Dye said only two children were in the vehicle during a meeting with city officials following the accident.
The referee's report said former Cleveland Public Safety Director Karrie Howard, who was Dye's boss at the time, testified that he gave her permission to transport two of the children to a basketball tournament that morning in her city car.
Howard later told reporters he did not know there was a policy prohibiting non-city employees from being transported in city vehicles.
He resigned a few weeks later.
READ MORE: Cleveland Assistant Public Safety Director fired
Dye was fired in April.
Cleveland's response
Cleveland officials said they will not follow Referee Lustig's recommendation.
News 5 obtained a copy of a letter sent to Dye from Acting Director of Public Safety Nicole A. Carlton, which says Dye's "credibility has been damaged beyond repair" due to her "lack of candor" about the crash and that "reinstatement to the second highest ranking official at the Department of Public Safety is ill advised."
Dye has 10 days to notify the Civil Service Commission if she wants to file a second appeal.
Dye's response
We reached out to Dye's attorney, Frank T. George.
He had no comment when he asked about a second appeal.
He sent us the following statement about the hearing referee's report and recommendation:
"An independent, neutral referee reviewed the facts, testimony, and law, and he concluded that Ms. Dye should not be terminated. We respect the referee’s finding that termination is inappropriate. We also believe the City should comply with his recommendation that Ms. Dye be reinstated."
