KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Jackson County judge issued a ruling Monday confirming the modified arbitration award concerning Kansas City, Missouri, firefighter Dominic Biscari.
Biscari pleaded guilty via an Alford plea to three counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter in the Dec. 15, 2021, deadly firetruck crash in Westport. His plea agreement stated he was sentenced to three years of probation.
Biscari was behind the wheel of a KCFD firetruck involved in a crash that left three dead and a building partially collapsed.
"Jennifer San Nicolas, Michael Elwood, and Tami Knight should be alive today,” KCMO Mayor Lucas said in a statement. “Nearly five years later, that remains the only fact in this tragedy that truly matters, and my heart stays with their families, who have carried this loss through every hearing, ruling, and appeal.”
The legal back-and-forth between the city of Kansas City, Missouri, and the International Association of Firefighters Local 42 has been ongoing for years.
On Feb. 21, 2023, the day Biscari was charged, the city issued a statement that it would seek to terminate Biscari. Days later, he was suspended without pay.
Local 42 filed a grievance in March 2023 alleging several violations by the city, including Biscari’s right to due process. The union made it clear it sought to reinstate Biscari and award him back pay.
In June 2023, a predetermination hearing was scheduled to determine whether cause existed for the suspension, as well as whether there was cause for employment termination. But after the city and Local 42 entered into a side letter agreement to arbitrate the grievance, the parties agreed to waive the hearing and move straight to arbitration.
An arbitration hearing was held in January 2024, in which both sides presented evidence and neither raised objections. Court documents state the city heavily relied on an ordinance that allows the termination of an employee charged with a felony. The documents specifically highlighted that the city did not object to the presentation of discipline for five "similarly situated" KCFD employees.
Months later, in March 2024, the arbitrator issued an opinion award that stated the city’s investigation was “fatally flawed” because it “failed to interview witnesses or analyze relevant evidence,” per a court document. The finding also mentioned the city did not adhere to Biscari’s rights to just cause and due process.
The award determined Biscari should be placed on a three-day, unpaid suspension. The city was also instructed to make Biscari “whole in every regard.”
In April 2024, the city challenged the award, claiming the arbitrator exceeded the scope of the issues discussed at the hearing. In August, the court remanded the matter to the arbitrator.
About a year later, in August 2025, the arbitrator issued a modified award. The arbitrator said the original award “appropriately covered issues raised without objection in the grievance arbitration hearing,” according to a court document. The modification was simply an order for each side to pay their own attorney’s fees.
In September 2025, the city filed its motion to vacate the modified award.
The judge’s most recent ruling — filed Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 — determined the award was legitimate and the arbitrator did what was required in applying the collective bargaining agreement’s “just cause and due process provisions to the dispute.” In short, the city attempted to redo the agreement, but the judge said no. The judge ruled the agreement concerned employee rights the city and union agreed to — not the crash.
In a statement Tuesday, the city said it will evaluate an appeal to the Missouri Court of Appeals and the Missouri Supreme Court.
Mayor Lucas also told KSHB 41 Tuesday that he finds the three-day suspension "tragic" and "ridiculous," which is why the city continues to fight the issue.
"I have immense respect for what they (firefighters) do each and every day. I stand with them. I support them. But what should not ever happen is that an individual who pleads guilty to manslaughter faces a punishment that, frankly, is lesser than you see for almost every offense around," Lucas said. "That is not right. That's not what the people of Kansas City would want or expect. I think it is a slap in the face to the victims' families. I think, frankly, it's a slap in the face to many of our constituents who want us to have actual accountability for things like this that happen."
An attorney for Local 42 issued a lengthy statement in response to the judge's ruling, saying it was a "complete vindication of the union's position."
"For years, the City attempted to portray this arbitration as though a neutral arbitrator had somehow exceeded his authority and ignored the limits of the parties’ agreement. The Court has now rejected that narrative.
"The Court confirmed what Local 42 has maintained throughout this litigation — that the City participated in the arbitration process, litigated the disciplinary issues before the arbitrator, and is bound by the result of that process. The City cannot bargain for just cause, due process, grievance rights, and binding arbitration when those protections are convenient, and then attempt to discard them when an arbitrator issues a decision it does not like.
"Clearly, this case arose from an undeniably tragic event in which three people lost their lives. Local 42 has never minimized that tragedy, and nothing about this ruling diminishes the loss suffered by the victims and their families. But the tragedy itself was not the legal question before the Court. The question was whether the City would be required to honor the contractual rights it negotiated with its firefighters.
"Just cause, due process, and binding arbitration are fundamental, bargained-for protections that exist precisely so that discipline is imposed fairly, consistently, and according to the agreement both sides signed.
"The City had its opportunity to make its case before a neutral arbitrator. It did so. It lost. It then asked the Court to undo that result. The Court refused.
"This decision is important for every Local 42 member because it confirms that when the City gives its word in a collective bargaining agreement, that word has consequences and those promises must be kept."
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