The city of Pittsburgh handled the June firing of a Department of Public Works manager with "nearly complete incompetence," its own Civil Service Commission wrote in a decision last month reversing the termination, and now that manager is demanding a prompt return to work.

Former Operations Coordinator John "Jack" Barley, 58, may be caught in legal limbo, though, because the commission said the city can suspend him for a year -- something his lawyer disputes.

"In my opinion, Jack is being treated unfairly," attorney Gary Butler said this week, days after he demanded the "immediate return to work" of his client in a letter to the city Law Department. "My suspicion is, they probably will try to suspend him," which could prompt a lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas by week's end.

"He was terminated. So until a final decision is made on his status, that's how it is," said city Operations Director Art Victor. Since Mr. Barley's attorney is demanding a prompt return to work, but the commission opened the door to a one-year suspension, there will be no change in his status until city lawyers talk with Mr. Butler, said Mr. Victor.

Mr. Barley's termination was sparked by an Oct. 12, 2008, arrest for driving under the influence. He was stopped by suburban police after leaving a weekend CityFit Wellness at Work Program golf outing, paid for by participating employees, at which beer was served.

Mr. Barley's job duties included monitoring other employees' records for DUI-related license suspensions. Shortly after pleading guilty in June, he told the department about his case, was suspended, and then was fired June 19.

The firing was driven, Mr. Victor said then, by the DUI, some unspecified "serious infractions" in 2003 and absence from some meetings. Mr. Barley was a non-union employee, but was protected by civil service rules, and appealed to the commission.

The commission rejected any consideration of any 2003 infractions, which neither Mr. Victor nor the commission detailed. That matter, commission members wrote, was settled under an agreement that required the city to remove all records of it from his personnel file.

Presenting those same records to the commission to justify this year's firing was a "clear violation" of the settlement, the commission wrote.

The commission found that there was no policy that justified firing Mr. Barley for a DUI, and in fact cited another, similar city employee in another department who was working despite a recent drunken driving conviction.

The commission found no evidence of any discipline for missed meetings. It found that the city "ignored each and every one" of its own rules for firing employees, calling the "procedural deficiencies ... appalling."

As a result, the commission unanimously granted Mr. Barley's appeal from termination. But it found that he "may be subject to a 12-month suspension without pay," since that's the punishment in one of the city's white-collar union agreements.

"That policy does not apply to him," said Mr. Butler. "That policy applies to union members."

Mr. Victor said he read the commission decision, but given that it is "essentially in litigation," he declined to comment on what policy changes it might prompt.

Guy Costa was the Department of Public Works director when Mr. Barley was fired, and he said this week that the Law Department initially recommended a 29-day unpaid suspension -- one day shy of the 30 days off that would have given Mr. Barley the right to appeal.

"We proceeded with that, and then at the last minute we were told to change it to a termination," Mr. Costa said, adding that the order came to him through Mr. Victor.

City Solicitor George Specter characterized the 29-day suspension as one of a range of options that was considered. Mr. Victor would not confirm details of internal discussions, but said that "options were discussed before any final decision was made," and that it was "more or less a group decision" to fire Mr. Barley.

Mr. Costa, 53, resigned in July, effective Oct. 2.

The commission's decision is dated Oct. 7, but Mr. Butler said he didn't get it until Thursday. Acting Personnel Director Judy Hill Finegan wrote in response to questions that there was "no notification time lag," since Mr. Butler didn't formally ask for a copy of the decision until last week.

Mr. Butler said that because challenges to commission rulings must be filed within 30 days of the decision, he has only until Friday -- six business days after he got the paperwork -- to sue to overturn the suspension. He said he may try to compel the city to pay Mr. Barley the wages he would have earned had he never been fired.

The city already faces a lawsuit stemming from the 2007 firing of heavy equipment operator Paul J. Grguras. He was terminated shortly after police found guns and inspection stickers at his house, and city administrators said the firing was driven by a failure to disclose 1980s felony convictions on a 1999 job application. Charges stemming from the police search were dropped.

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