Corrections officer gets job back after being fired for bus brawl

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — WFTV has learned an Orange County Corrections officer got his job back after being fired for a booze-filled brawl on a charter bus in 2013.

Cpl. Michael Dean was a lieutenant before the charter bus fight that caused him to be fired in October 2013. He was resinstated in late January after the union argued he should have never been fired in the first place. Dean returned to work as a corporal, a two-step demotion, officials said.

"Certainly they're held to a higher standard, but that standard is not an impossible standard," WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said.

Surveillance video of the fight on the bus was released shortly after the incident. It showed Dean punching and threatening Sgt. Donald Casey, who was also fired, during an argument. The brawl got so out of control that the bus driver had to pull over on I-95.

Dean's demotion will cost him about $4 per hour, or around $8,700 a year. He also gave up 103 days of back pay and can't be promoted for at least two years.

"Although their conduct may have been reprehensible on a personal level, it did not relate to their job nor did their acts occur during the performance of the job," Sheaffer said.

Casey is still fighting to get his job back at the Orange County Jail.

WFTV