Two Saskatoon cops fight to get their jobs back after legal misfire

WATCH: Two fired Saskatoon police officers are fighting to get their badges back, asking a judge to let them appeal their terminations.

Two fired Saskatoon police officers are asking a judge to let them challenge their terminations, after their lawyer sent the paperwork to the wrong place.

Former constables Dylan Kemp and Jason Garland were terminated on Sept. 3, following an off-duty party.

Eight days later, they appealed the decision.

But their lawyer, Steve Seiferling, made a mistake.

He sent the appeals to the Saskatoon Police Service and the Saskatoon Police Association (the employer and union). They should have been sent to the Saskatchewan Police Commission, the provincial oversight body.

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“Through an error of counsel, the appeals were not sent to the right party,” their legal brief reads.

As a result, Kemp and Garland missed the 30-day deadline to challenge their firings.

They’re now asking a judge to overlook the filing mistake and accept their appeals.

“It would be a denial of natural justice and procedural fairness not to let the appeals proceed,” the officers’ legal brief says.

The matter is scheduled to be heard Jan. 23 at the Court of King’s Bench.

How the mistake surfaced

Though the appeals were sent to the wrong places, neither recipient flagged it.

On Oct. 28, Seiferling emailed the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety to ask about the appointment of a hearing officer for Kemp and Garland’s appeals.

A ministry official replied that he would share the notice of appeals with Brent Penner, the executive director of the Saskatchewan Police Commission.

Penner told Seiferling the Oct. 28 email was “the first notification that the commission received regarding any appeal” — 25 days past the deadline.

Penner said the legislation is clear that appeals must be submitted to the commission, not the employer or union.

What the ex-officers say in their appeals

In their appeals, the two officers, who worked as partners, claim their discipline is inconsistent to how other cops at the same party were treated.

The filings make note of an alleged gang member, who was invited to the wedding of two police staff.

“Those members received no discipline,” the appeal says.

CTV News has contacted police for comment.

Kemp and Garland co-host a podcast called The Quiet Fight, where they discuss men’s mental health challenges.