Firing of state forestry pilot upheld

(Staff report) A hearing officer has upheld the termination of a state-employed pilot for a variety of reasons, including repeated instances in which he lost his temper.

Glenn Marr was a pilot with the Nevada Division of Forestry. He had several instances in his record dating back to 1998 in which his supervisors said he failed to control his temper and acted aggressively toward both state workers and federal employees. In the 1998 case, he was suspended without pay for three days following an altercation in which he shoved another man.

There were three more incidents involving verbal confrontations in 2002 and 2005.

Hearing officer Bill Kockenmeister said the evidence showed Marr kept poor records of his flight hours and, while on a training trip to Florida, falsified records including work time and per diem expenses. The opinion concludes that Marr was dishonest and neglected his duties on the job.

Kockenmeister concluded that the decision to fire Marr was justified based on his behavior over the years, the previous discipline imposed on him and his neglect of record-keeping responsibilities - capped off by the falsified time sheets and expense reports.