CINCINNATI — A Cincinnati Police Department captain who was fired amid investigations for violating department policies must be reinstated, according to a three-person arbitration panel.
Danita Pettis, who had been with CPD for 25 years, was fired in December 2024. At the time, neither Chief Teresa Theetge nor the city manager commented on what led to her termination. However, her attorney, Jason Matthews, said the termination was retaliation.
Matthews said Pettis, a Black woman, learned in 2024 of a document circulating among officers that alleged she was promoted because of affirmative action. She filed a complaint, which her attorney said turned into an internal investigation in which arbitrators said the captain who led the interview was "dismissive of and argumentative with Captain Pettis, hardly treating her with either dignity or respect."
The city assigned Cincinnati Fire Department Chief Frank McKinley to be a neutral hearing officer to recommend discipline. According to Pettis' attorneys, McKinley recommended an 11-day suspension, but instead, Pettis was fired.
According to her attorneys, Theetge wrote a letter to City Manager Sheryl Long saying she did not agree with the recommendation and saying Pettis should be fired, resulting in Long then firing Pettis.
Now, an arbitration panel has ordered the city to fully reinstate Pettis as captain, with full back pay and benefits.
"I’m very pleased to finally be vindicated," Pettis said in a release. "I look forward to getting back to the job that I’ve always loved doing."
Records show Pettis was involved in multiple investigations in the years leading to her termination. In 2023, an internal investigation looked into whether Pettis, who is also the former president of the Sentinel Police Association, made "derogatory comments." The Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police announced Pettis was exonerated of the allegations after the investigation.
Additionally, she was accused of entering false information about her work on a time card and interfering with the previous internal investigation of her conduct, which was performed in early 2024. Pettis was supposed to be disciplined for those allegations in September, but the proceedings were delayed.
In October 2024, another officer who'd worked with Pettis sued her, the City of Cincinnati and Theetge, alleging "unlawful discriminatory and retaliatory actions against Plaintiff based on race," claiming she made racially offensive statements about her fellow officer's interracial marriage and biracial children. The officer who filed the lawsuit also alleges Pettis threatened to harm her career and went to her home to intimidate her.
We've reached out to both CPD and the city manager's office for comment.
