By Lizzie Kaboski
cleveland.com
ROCKY RIVER, Ohio — A patrolman for the Rocky River Police Department got his job back after accusing the city of retaliating against him for bringing a vote of no confidence against the police chief.
The Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the state’s largest police union, said an arbitrator has validated its grievance filed last year on behalf of Officer Greg King.
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King said he brought the no confidence vote against Chief George Lichman in 2023, was placed on leave in 2024 and was wrongfully terminated in September 2025 on allegations that he violated department rules and harassed another employee. King said he believed it was backlash for the vote.
The union posted the grievance decision on Facebook, showing the city must reinstate King, pay him any lost wages and benefits from the date he was fired through the date he was reinstated and remove all disciplinary action related to the termination from Officer King’s personnel file. The city must also pay the arbitrator’s fees and expenses which are over $23,000, according to the OPBA.
Lichman, King and Rocky River Mayor Pamela Bobst did not respond to a request for comment on the case.
OPBA attorney Adam Chaloupka said there were flaws in Rocky River’s investigation against King, specifically in how the investigation process was carried out. It ultimately resulted in no just cause for the discipline.
“In labor law cases, it’s on the employer to prove their case,” Chaloupka said. “And they didn’t prove their case.”
In late 2024, King filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Rocky River and Lichman, asserting that Lichman retaliated against him for airing his concerns via the no confidence letter. King was accused of continuing to report what he believed were instances of misconduct committed by other police department employees until he was placed on leave, according to a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit is still pending in federal court.
However, the arbitration ruling did not mention King’s alleged conduct as the reason he was reinstated. The ruling found that the city’s entire procedural investigation was conducted incorrectly under the collective bargaining agreement.
Specifically, the city did not get signed complaints from the accusers, Chaloupka said.
“The fix was in from Greg at the beginning,” he said. “I think they were just trying to figure out how to fire him.”
King, who was director of the patrolman bargaining unit for the department, joined other members of the unit in a vote of no confidence against Lichman in 2022 and 2023.
In their letter delivered to Mayor Pamela Bobst , the officers wrote that they were concerned about some of Lichman’s decisions, including his attendance at a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest, which the letter called “anti-police.” The letter also accused Lichman of talking politics and religion with officers and posting a photo on Instagram that supposedly showed him naked. Lichman vehemently denied all the allegations.
Rocky River officials sought an independent review of the department from the Ohio attorney general’s office, which referred the matter to the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office. The office said it found insufficient evidence of any wrongdoing and no indication that the matter needed to be presented to a grand jury. The initial allegations against Lichman did not involve criminal activity.
The city also hired a law firm to conduct an independent investigation, which cleared Lichman of any misdeeds.
King is thrilled to have his job back, Chaloupka said. The city, however, hasn’t officially put him back to work.
“We have no idea why they haven’t put him back to work,” Chaloupka said. “But he’s happy. You’re not fully satisfied until you’re fully vindicated. And we won.”
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