Two Denver Sheriff Department sergeants were fired this month after failing to report a co-worker they suspected was drinking on the job and instead organized a ride home for him.

The deputies, however, argued that the co-worker was suffering from cancer and was thought to be having an adverse reaction to chemotherapy. They also said that even Sheriff Patrick Firman thought the chemo was the problem and had told them to get the co-worker home safely, according to copies of their disciplinary letters obtained by The Denver Post.

Sgt. Timothy Applegate and Sgt. Justin Tomsick were notified of their dismissals on Aug. 1 after officials determined they had been dishonest during an internal investigation about what happened, the disciplinary letters said. Typically, dishonesty during an investigation leads to dismissal in Denver’s Department of Public Safety.

The firings raised anew questions about the disciplinary process at the sheriff’s department, which has meted out much more lenient punishment in cases involving the death or serious injury of inmates. In April, the family of inmate Michael Marshall criticized the decision to suspend three deputies without pay for a few days after Marshall died during an excessive force incident in November 2015.

Mari Newman, an attorney for the Marshall family, noted that the deputies responsible for Marshall’s death received a lighter penalty than Applegate and Tomsick, who violated a city-wide order that addresses using drugs and alcohol on the job.

“I’m all in favor of Denver holding its law enforcement officers accountable and disciplining them when appropriate, but the inconsistency leads me to question what is going on,” Newman said.

Applegate had worked at the sheriff’s department since 2008 and had no prior disciplinary issues. Tomsick was hired as a deputy in 2010, and his prior disciplinary record was a written reprimand in 2012 for bringing a knife into the facility.

The co-worker of the two sergeants was a security specialist who worked in a control room for opening and closing secure doors in the Downtown Detention Center, the disciplinary letters said.

On Nov. 22, the specialist complained to a sergeant that he did not feel well because of cancer treatment and asked to be relieved from his duties, the letters said.

Applegate was asked to bring a nurse to check on the specialist, who said he was dizzy and light-headed. While the nurse was checking the security specialist, Firman stopped by and said, “Just make sure he gets home fine,” Applegate’s letter said.

Tomsick was called to arrange a ride home, and he and Applegate escorted the specialist to a garage. On the way, the specialist was unsteady on his feet, swaying and leaning against walls for support, the letters said.

The two later met with a third sergeant to discuss the possibility the specialist had been drinking because they smelled something “sweet” during an elevator ride. They also considered the sweet smell could be something else because the jail often has unusual smells, the letters said.

Video footage of the three sergeants talking in a store room was used by internal investigators to prove the deputies had suspected alcohol and had failed to immediately report the specialist.

After the store room meeting, the sergeants called an internal affairs captain to report their suspicions and asked if the specialist should be brought back to work to be drug-tested. But the deputies said, “We were told no, that IA is familiar with his health situation…,” Tomsick’s letter said.

It is unclear in the letters who eventually initiated an internal investigation. Daelene Mix, a safety department spokeswoman, did not return messages seeking comment on Wednesday.

The specialist later admitted to his supervisors that he drank alcohol at home before reporting to work and had brought alcohol inside a water bottle and drank it on duty in the jail, the letters said.

He no longer works at the department because he is medically unable to perform his job duties, said Mary Dulacki, the department’s records coordinator.

The deputies said no one else had suspected the specialist was drunk, including seven other people who had come in contact with him. Those people included the sheriff, two other security specialists and the nurse who checked him. Everyone had thought he was having an adverse reaction to the cancer treatment, the letter said.

But sheriff’s investigators and supervisors determined that Applegate and Tomsick were obligated to ask for a drug/alcohol blood test once they suspected the specialist might have been under the influence, their letters said. The letters indicate the testing would have been required if they solely suspected he was having an adverse reaction to the chemotherapy.

By failing to immediately report the security specialist, the sergeants violated the city’s Executive Order 94, which prohibits city employees from being under the influence of drugs or alcohol and mandates that supervisors take action once an employee is suspected of being under the influence.

“Throughout his involvement in assisting the security specialist and coordinating a ride home for him Sergeant Applegate made independent observations and was informed by numerous individuals of information that created a reasonable suspicion relating to the security specialist being in violation of Executive Order 94,” Applegate’s letter said.

Reid Elkus, a Denver attorney who represents the sergeants, said they would “zealously appeal” the terminations. He declined to discuss specific facts of the case.

“Our issue here is we don’t find there is any factual basis to support any policy violations,” Elkus said.