Pittsburgh police officer fired following his interaction with a homeless man in 2021 wins case for reinstatement and back pay

Former Pittsburgh police officer Keith Edmonds, who was fired after he was involved in a deadly encounter with a homeless man in 2021, must be reinstated and given back pay and benefits, a Commonwealth Court judge ruled Friday.

The ruling by Judge Anne E. Convey reverses the decision reached last year by the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas — a decision that reversed the initial arbitrator’s decision that Mr. Edmonds should be reinstated.

Judge Convey, in her 23-page decision, cited U.S. Supreme Court case law that if an arbitrator is “even arguably construing or applying the contract,” a court can’t overturn the arbitrator’s decision just because the court “is convinced he committed serious error.”

Mr. Edmonds was fired in early 2022, months after he used his Taser multiple times