News

By Jane Smith
    
    The man who just received approval to open the newest substance-abuse treatment center in Boynton Beach has fought in court for more than four years with Delray Beach — over a $4.25 double-scoop of strawberry cheesecake ice cream that began a wrangle for his job.
    Late last year, the city commission approved a $125,000 out-of-court settlement with Michael Brown, and he waived his right to return to work at the Delray Beach Police Department, according to a memo prepared for the Dec. 10 commission meeting.
    Brown said he is not supposed to discuss the settlement. Instead, he prefers to focus on getting his Sobriety Now center ready for clients. The for-profit business received a probationary state license June 20 to offer adult outpatient and adult intensive outpatient treatment services at 639 E. Ocean Ave. in Boynton Beach.
    Sobriety Now is seeking clients who have completed in-patient programs and have insurance, about 10-15 people. “We won’t take any court-ordered patients,” Brown said.
    The business is designed with a 12-step-plus approach to treatment, emphasizing the lifelong recovery process. It will monitor clients’ drug use through random urine testing done weekly. No clients will live at Sobriety Now offices.
    Michael Berger, a licensed clinical social worker, will oversee the client assessment, counseling and group therapy sessions. The two met when Berger was working at the Ambrosia Treatment Center in West Palm Beach as a licensed therapist, Berger says. He heard that Brown was looking for a licensed clinical social worker to run a treatment center.
    Berger’s background also includes a stint at the South County Mental Health Center, where he was a therapist on its outpatient crisis unit.
    Brown declined to discuss his financial backing. When seeking his state license with the Department of Children and Families, Sobriety Now supplied a letter from H & G Bookkeeping and Tax Services Inc. in West Palm Beach that said, “We can assure that Sobriety Now has the ability to sustain during the first six months of business.”
    That letter and other supporting documents were sufficient for Sobriety Now to get a probationary license for 90 days. The company paid $300 each for the two treatment center types.
    DCF insists that the center’s officers, therapists and volunteers with direct client contact are fingerprinted and have a state and federal criminal record checks, but it does not look into the work histories listed on a résumé.
    Brown declined to discuss his work history after he left the Delray Beach Police Department.
    His résumé lists: a certified behavioral health technician course, completed June 2013 in Pompano Beach, and an associate of arts degree from Palm Beach State College in Boca Raton.
    Under professional experience, his resume shows that as CEO of Sobriety Now he “facilitated a sex and love addiction specialty group one time a week, served as Ambrosia South’s relapse prevention specialist …”
    He also lists two positions in the jewelry industry: owner of Michael Ryan Jewelers in Boynton Beach, which specializes in buying diamonds and estate jewelry, from July 2013 to present, and general manager of Cash for Gold & Silver Inc. in Fort Lauderdale from July 2011 to January 2014. He also listed an eight-year stint in the U.S. Navy and reserves where he was a “master at arms.” For the Delray Beach Police Department, his résumé lists “sworn police officer” from August 2007 to November 2009.
    In April 2009 he went into a closing Ben & Jerry’s and asked for free ice cream, according to the department’s Internal Affairs records. The chief recommended Brown be fired, which the then-city manager did on Nov. 20, 2009.
    Brown took that termination to arbitration. The arbitrator decided on July 7, 2010, that an eight-month suspension without pay was appropriate and awarded Brown his job without back pay.
    The arbitrator also reviewed the department’s investigation into the incident and found it to have several “red flags” that did not support the conclusion that Brown had lied.
    In addition, the arbitrator report also looked into Brown’s discipline record with the agency, 11 cases in two years, calling that record “deplorable.”
    The city appealed to circuit court, saying the arbitrator had overstepped his role. The judge agreed in December 2012 and sent the case back to arbitration. The union appealed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal. Then in November 2013, the city’s outside counsel filed a notice of settlement.
    In the city attorney’s memo for the December commission meeting, the settlement with Brown was described as “66 percent of his back pay if he were to be reinstated at the second arbitration hearing … If the case is not settled, the City’s attorneys’ fees and costs going forward will be approximately $50,000.”