Sharon Nichols, the fired Detroit 911 operator who dismissed a 5-year-old's call as a prank while the boys mother died in 2006, recently won an arbitrators ruling and is heading back to work, according to WJR.

Listen to the 911 call on WJR:















Robert Turner, 5, called 911 at 6 p.m. after his mother collapsed in her bedroom on Detroit's west side. Nichols hung up on Turner after asking him to put an adult on the phone. She told him she would send police — not EMS — but they never arrived.

Turner called back at 9 p.m., at which point another operator told him, "You shouldn't be playing on the phone. Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you going to be in trouble."

Police finally arrived after 9 p.m. and found Sherrill Turner, mother of 10, dead.

New Police Chief Warren Evans explained the arbitrator's ruling last night on WJR, saying an initial one day suspension gave the arbitrator enough room to put Nichols back on the job.

"The problem was that during a trial board process prior to that the command officer that first issued discipline, only issued a one day suspension," Evans said. "So when the arbitrator saw the distinction between somebody in the department saying it should only be one day &mdash which seems bizarre to me — contrasted with the chief saying termination that gave the arbitrator just enough room, I think, to say I've got to bring this person back."

Police spokesman John Roach says the city will comply.

This story was updated with additional content from The Associated Press