Arbitrator finds TF Green officials lacked cause to fire union leader, awards 2 years back pay

An arbitrator has ruled that the head of the union representing police and firefighters at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport can return to work nearly two years after he was fired from the airport’s fire department. But the outcome still depends on the resolution of a lawsuit filed last year in Providence Superior Court.

In a 67-page decision published Tuesday, arbitrator Sheila Mayberry found officials at the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) failed to prove its misconduct allegations against Steven Parent and had effectively decided to terminate him before giving him a chance to respond at a hearing.

“In terminating the grievant, RIAC disregarded almost every principle of just cause,” Mayberry wrote.

Parent, who had worked as a firefighter at T.F. Green for more than a decade before his firing, expressed relief in an interview after learning the arbitrator agreed with his case that he had been terminated without cause. Parent has been president of Local 2873 of RI Council 94 for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) since 2019.

“Two years, nine arbitration hearings, and they didn’t have it,” Parent said in an interview.

Mayberry ordered the airport corporation to reinstate Parent and make him whole for lost wages and benefits, less any interim earnings, unemployment compensation or other applicable offsets. Parent estimated the back pay and lost benefits could total as much as $350,000.

Mayberry also directed airport officials to remove references to Parent’s termination from his personnel file and to treat his service as continuous for purposes of seniority and other contractual benefits.

The Rhode Island Airport Corporation moved to terminate Parent in October 2024, claiming he “knowingly and willfully engaged in efforts to sabotage airport operations” by discouraging applicants from working at T.F. Green. Airport officials also accused him of benefiting from overtime pay caused by ongoing vacancies.

Parent was officially fired after a closed-door meeting with airport officials Oct. 28. Two days later, Council 94 filed an unfair labor practice claim with the Rhode Island State Labor Relations Board.

The dispute was part of a broader deterioration in relations between airport management and the union who were in the midst of negotiating a new three-year contract for airport workers, which was eventually ratified in March 2025. 

The same month Parent was fired, airport executives hired Providence-based DeSisto Law to investigate anonymous letters alleging a toxic workplace, including one sent to airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration claiming the airport would close Aug. 13, 2024, because of an employee walkout. No walkout ever happened.

Mayberry found officials never told Parent during the termination process that they believed he was discouraging applicants to keep the department understaffed and generate more overtime for himself. Representatives from the airport corporation raised that allegation for the first time during arbitration, according to the reinstatement decision.

There were examples of alleged discouragement dating to 2022, including one firefighter’s report that Parent said he did not know why anyone would want to work at T.F. Green. But airport officials never questioned Parent about the comment at the time, nor did the firefighter who made the claim testify during arbitration.

No evidence of overtime review

As for allegations Parent benefited from overtime, Mayberry wrote proving such a scheme would have required airport officials to review overtime records, examine its union contract and interview firefighters. She found no evidence they did any of that. 

Parent acknowledged he worked substantial overtime, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. But any extra work was a result of the department’s staffing requirements, which called for four firefighters per shift while allowing two to be out on paid time off at any given time.

“You don’t have to be a mathematician to figure out that if your minimum staffing is four and two are out at any given time, that’s going to cost overtime,” Parent said. 

Mayberry noted that his performance evaluations praised him for taking on so much overtime, with one captain stating Parent was “instrumental in coordinating the manpower void.”

Bill Fisher, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, said the arbitrator’s decision was unsurprising. He also maintained that the ruling does not resolve whether Parent can actually return to his job.

A final determination would come from a lawsuit airport officials filed last year in Providence County Superior Court seeking a ruling that the corporation could not be compelled to reinstate Parent.

The complaint alleges Parent trespassed by entering T.F. Green’s fire station without an escort on Nov. 1, 2024 — four days after he was fired. Airport officials said Parent took work materials without authorization after his firing. 

Parent previously said he went to retrieve a copy of the union’s contract. The lawsuit was stayed by Judge Brian Stern in January pending the outcome of the arbitration.

“Regardless of what the arbitrator has decided concerning contractual issues related to just cause, the fundamental security issues remain unchanged and must now be resolved in the proper forum, which is the court,” Fisher said in an emailed statement.

Even if Parent were to secure a final legal victory, there’s a big question on whether he wants to continue working at the Warwick airport.

“Do I want to go back and be a RIAC firefighter? Absolutely,” he said. “Do I want to go back and work for the Rhode Island Airport Corporation? I’m not so sure.”

But Parent is 60 this year and said he does not expect to find another job as a firefighter. And despite his reservations about his most recent workplace, he said he wants to see the airport succeed.

“Nobody wants the airport not to do well,” Parent said.