A Sudbury police officer will have to wait to learn what sanctions he faces after a tribunal found him guilty of discreditable conduct under the Police Service Act.
Constable Robert Rheaume of the Sudbury Police pleaded not guilty to the charge that his comments on Facebook were a breach of the department’s social media policy.
The tribunal disagreed with him and pronounced the guilty verdict on February 5th.
The circumstances surround comments Rheaume made on the Sudbury Star’s Facebook page after it published a story about the people whose names appear on the Sunshine list.
The list comes out every spring and names how much money a publicly-paid employee earns if his or her salary is at or above $100,000.
Last March Rheaume made two posts on the Star’s Facebook page where he talked about three Sudbury police employees whose salaries had increased by 33 percent over one year and another worker whose salary rose 50 percent over a four-year period.
Police Chief Paul Pederson filed a complaint regarding Rheaume’s comments which resulted in the tribunal hearing.
Following the verdict, Pederson said, “…our members are held to a high standard of accountability both on and off duty with respect to that which impacts the integrity of the organization and a respectful workplace”.
The next step is to set a date for submissions and sanctions Rheaume could face as the Police Service Act Disciplinary Hearing process continues.
That date is expected to be set in the near future.