Former Columbia police officer wants his job back at second trial

A man fired from the Columbia Police Department after shoving and injuring someone in a holding cell will head to trial again to get his job back.

The legal battle over Rob Sanders’ shove has gone through multiple courts since 2011. His lawsuit against the city for firing him over the issue will go to trial on Wednesday in Boone County.

Sanders, an 18-year veteran of CPD at the time, shoved Kenneth Baker into the wall of a holding cell on August 15, 2011. Baker fought with officers earlier that day when they arrested him on two felony warrants. The officers pepper-sprayed Baker during the struggle, and Baker complained of the spray’s effects inside the cell, slapping the door. Sanders entered the cell after telling Baker to stop and pushed him to the ground to restrain him.

Despite an Internal Affairs investigation saying Sanders followed department policy, Chief Ken Burton fired Sanders a month later claiming he used excessive force. A Personnel Advisory Board hearing agreed with that decision and City Manager Mike Matthes upheld the decision to fire Sanders.

The lawsuit claims Matthes violated state law in upholding the firing. The city said Matthes’ decision was based on the prior decisions of the Personnel Advisory Board and human resources.

“There is simply no evidence that the City Manager acted in some unlawful way in reaching his decision, issuing his Final Determination, and exercising his discretion to terminate [Sanders]’s employment,” the city wrote in a pretrial brief.

Sanders won his first lawsuit in 2014 after Judge Patricia Joyce reversed Matthes’ decision. An appeals court undid the decision based on procedural grounds.

Dale Roberts, director of the Columbia Police Officers Association, said he hoped Sanders got his job back.

“He did what officers were trained to do,” Roberts said. “He did what policy said to do. He did what they were supposed to do, and he was fired for doing it.”

Lafayette County judge Dennis Rolf will preside over the three-day bench trial in Boone County.