Opinion
April 20, 1956.
June 25, 1956.
Municipalities — Third Class Cities — Civil Service Employes — Policemen — Conduct unbecoming an officer — Hearing before city council — Discharge — Appeal to common pleas — Scope of review — Third Class City Code.
On this appeal by a policeman from the action of city council in dismissing him for conduct unbecoming an officer, in which it appeared that appellant and a woman were in a women's toilet room together behind a locked door on the second floor of a restaurant at 4:00 a.m., it was Held that (1) the evidence was sufficient to sustain council's dismissal of the officer, (2) council could properly consider the officer's misconduct of a different kind on a prior occasion for which he had been punished, in considering the proper punishment for the subsequent misconduct, and (3) in a hearing de novo before the court of common pleas, pursuant to the Act of June 28, 1951, P. L. 662, § 4408, the court may not substitute its discretion for that of city council but must affirm the finding of city council where the evidence is sufficient to sustain it, even though the court as an independent fact finding body might have made a different finding.
Before STERN, C. J., JONES, BELL, CHIDSEY, MUSMANNO and ARNOLD, JJ.
Appeal, No. 132, Jan. T., 1956, from order of Court of Common Pleas of Berks County, Nov. T., 1954, No. 30, in re appeal of Joseph Ditko from dismissal from City of Reading Police Force. Order affirmed.
Same case in court below: 5 Pa. D. C.2d 569.
Appeal by policeman from decision of city council dismissing him from police force. Before HESS, J.
Order entered dismissing appeal. Policeman appealed.
Samuel Gorson, with him Albert S. Readinger and Samuel R. Liever, for appellant.
Robert F. Shapiro, Assistant City Solicitor, with him C. Wilson Austin, City Solicitor, for appellee.
The order entered in the Court below is affirmed on the Opinion of Judge WARREN K. HESS.