Butler County has entered arbitration to settle a grievance filed over the firing of a Children and Youth Services caseworker.

After the county fired Laurie Kubli, 50, of West Franklin Township, Armstrong County, through an Aug. 22 letter, the Service Employees International Union filed a grievance.

County solicitor Mike English said both sides weren’t going to alter their stances, so arbitration was necessary.

“We’re going to expedite that,” English said.

Al Smith, business agent for SEIU Local 668, agreed.

“We’re on the fast track,” Smith said.

Kubli was accused of using poor judgment in an Aug. 8 incident.

The county, Kubli and the union won’t disclose any details of the incident.

However, Smith said Kubli is not guilty of wrongdoing.

“She should have been commended for what she did,” Smith said.

He said Kubli should have been disciplined if she had not done what she did.

“We feel we have a good chance of winning,” Smith said about the pending arbitration ruling.

English would not respond to Smith’s comments.

“I’m not going to offer any commentary of a pending case,” English said.

County Commissioner Bill McCarrier, board chairman, said he is unfamiliar with the details of the case, but is confident the administration had just cause to recommend Kubli’s firing.

Commissioner Jim Eckstein, who was the sole board member opposing the termination, disagreed.

Eckstein sided with Smith regarding Kubli’s actions.

“We have an ethical obligation to do what’s best for our fellow man,” Eckstein said to describe Kubli’s motivation.

Kubli, a union representative for SEIU, previously called her firing a retaliatory action for a prior grievance and her outspokenness over the years.

Aside from Eckstein, county officials maintain Kubli’s history has nothing to do with her removal.