Fired Arlington police officer Tibor Kovacs hasn't gotten his job back and the city wants to keep it that way.
The ongoing court battle between Kovacs and the city over his future as a police officer shows no sign of ending anytime soon.The legal fight revolves around an arbitrator's ruling issued in June that called for Arlington to reinstate Kovacs with back pay, including time he spent in jail on sexual assault and family violence charges.Arlington argued that the arbitrator, Frederick Ahrens, acted outside the scope of his authority because he considered evidence not available to the city when Kovacs was fired.Arlington challenged the ruling and filed a motion to divide or "sever" the lawsuit into two separate cases, arguing that the issues of the arbitrator's ruling and Kovacs' claims that he was denied due process should be considered separately."Our position is that these are separate issues," said Pamela Hutson, assistant city attorney. "Should the judge decide not to sever the claim then we would have to address everything at once, and it's a much lengthier process," she said.Christopher Livingston, Kovacs' attorney, countered that the former officer wasn't given due process and that the facts are interwoven.It would be a "significant burden on Kovacs to try the same set of facts in two separate cases," Livingston wrote in his response. Requiring two separate trials would be a waste of judicial resources, he said.State District Judge David Evans issued a ruling Dec. 21 stating that he would not sever the suit because he wanted to allow more time for discovery by both sides in the dispute."I have decided to deny the City of Arlington's Motion to Sever," Evans wrote in the ruling. "The City in its motion alleged that its claims could be handled summarily. This ruling is without prejudice to the refiling of a motion to sever at a later time, should the Court grant summary judgment in favor of the City."Kovacs was fired Jan. 21, 2011, while he was in jail on charges that he sexually assaulted his girlfriend and retaliated against Cedar Hill and Arlington police officers who were investigating the assault allegations. A Dallas County grand jury declined to indict Kovacs.At the time, Kovacs was also on paid administrative leave for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in October of 2010. In the 2010 incident, Kovacs saw the woman driving erratically. She told Kovacs she was returning from a strip club where she was formerly employed and admitted being tipsy.The woman reported that she was assaulted while riding in the front seat of Kovacs' patrol car. The woman dropped her charges against Kovacs a month after he was released from jail in March 2011.In his ruling, Ahrens, the arbitrator, wrote that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the woman was assaulted and that Kovacs should get his job back with back pay, except for the 20-day suspension for allowing the woman to ride in the front seat of his patrol car.Arlington disputed the decision, saying it is against city policy to pay someone while he or she is in jail.Elizabeth Campbell,817-390-7696Twitter: @fwstlizHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
