Fired Pittsburgh officer wins court case to return to force, city will appeal to state Supreme Court

PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh police officer fired after allegedly sexually assaulting a fellow officer is one step closer to returning to the force.

11 Investigates has followed the twists and turns in this case that began nearly three years ago.

Chief Investigator Rick Earle with the brand new court ruling that clears the way for his return and reaction from the alleged victim’s attorney.

But first, Earle has learned that the city isn’t backing down.

They plan to fight the Commonwealth court ruling that was just handed down.

The city has already lost this case three times, but now they plan to appeal the ruling to the State Supreme Court.

Earle spoke with the alleged victim’s attorney.

“It’s appalling that we have a system that allows an officer that after an evidentiary hearing was found to have conducted sexual assault at a minimum,” said Attorney Lisa Bennington, who represented the alleged victim during a protection order hearing.

Attorney Bennington was reacting to a decision by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court that essentially cleared the way for Aaron Fetty’s return to the force.

“Is there any place where you would not be fired? Okay, I don’t think that would happen at Channel 11 but it can happen in the city of Pittsburgh police force,” said Bennington.

Allegheny County police and the District Attorney both investigated after the officer claimed in June 2021 that she was sexually assaulted by Fetty, who drove her home after a night of drinking.

No criminal charges were ever filed.

The chief recommended that Fetty be fired, but that was eventually reduced to a three-day suspension and a transfer from Zone 5 in East Liberty to Zone 1 on the North Side.

Upset by what she called a lack of discipline, the alleged victim sent an email to every officer on the force detailing what happened.

She also filed for a protection order, and during a hearing, a judge ruled there was evidence that a sexual assault had occurred, and ordered Fetty to have no contact with her.

Based on the evidence revealed in that civil case, the city fired Fetty but an arbitrator ordered him reinstated, ruling that the city had already punished him and the 120-day time frame to take disciplinary action had already expired.

The city appealed to the Common Pleas Court and then the Commonwealth Court and lost both cases.

But they aren’t giving up.

The Mayor’s Press Secretary sent an email to 11 Investigates that they will now appeal to the State Supreme Court.

“The City is extremely disappointed in the ruling in Officer Fetty’s case. We believe that this ruling hamstrings the City’s mandate to comply with existing laws and ensure it provides its employees with a safe working environment. The Commonwealth Court stated that they could not overturn the caselaw with respect to the City’s public policy argument.  The City will therefore appeal this decision to the Supreme Court where we will argue again that employees in law enforcement should be of the highest integrity and character.  The City has real concerns about allowing an individual about whom Judge Mulligan, in a civil proceeding, stated committed a sexual assault to be permitted to patrol our streets and enforce the laws of the Commonwealth. This is why the City pushed hard for the inclusion of a disciplinary matrix as part of our new contract with the FOP. This critical tool makes it possible that the city is able to hold officers accountable for their behavior without having to go through arbitration and appeals to the Supreme Court,” wrote Maria Montano, the Mayor’s Director of Communications.

The female officer is still on the force.

She had been away on military leave but is now back at work for the police department.

“As a mom and a city resident it doesn’t give me a whole lot of confidence in my city police force,” said Bennington.

The Police Officers’ union said Fetty should be reinstated immediately.

They’ve also said it’s a waste of taxpayer money to keep appealing this case with the same result.

And they said in the end the city would be on the hook for full back pay, including any overtime he would have earned during the past three years.

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