A San Diego firefighter remains employed after getting drunk at a department-sponsored training event — conduct he defended in court, saying there was no city rule against it. The November 2012 training class took place at the union hall, while firefighters were off-duty. The city paid for the training, which was required for certain career advancement, and firefighters were given considerations such as excuses from mandatory overtime while they were at the training.
Because firefighters were off-duty, there was no rule against being intoxicated at the training, Kutzke argued in court. His petition in Superior Court stated that the record established that the “firefighting culture approved of drinking in such classes” and the discipline was excessive.
City officials said that Kutzke is a Marine veteran and “usually behaves as an exemplary firefighter.” But in their court response to his appeal, officials said he became the “ringleader of impromptu ‘frat party’ type shenanigans” at the training. They said his suspension was warranted because the department paid for the class and Kutzke’s “juvenile” behavior could have jeopardized future funding and certification.
In a final ruling on Kutzke’s case in August, Judge Joan M. Lewis said “even absent a specific rule, it strikes the court as difficult to understand how becoming intoxicated and disruptive during a department-offered class would not be subject to discipline.”