Article Last Updated:
Sunday, September 15, 2002 - 3:40:46 AM MST
By DANIEL TEPFER dtepfer@.com
BRIDGEPORT - A Superior Court judge Friday refused to issue an order blocking the Fire Department from fining a firefighter more than $1,000 for violating the department's absence policy.
Judge William Rush denied the application for a temporary injunction sought by the Bridgeport firefighters' union.
The dispute arose, according to the union's lawsuit, when Fire Chief Michael Maglione on July 10 ordered Firefighter Christopher Weiner be fined $1,094.04 for making a false sick claim. The amount represented overtime wages the department paid to replace Weiner.
The chief gave Weiner a choice to either pay the full amount at once or have 20 percent of it deducted from his weekly paycheck, the suit states.
The union denies that Weiner filed a false sick claim, and has produced a doctor's note to support his claim of illness.
The dispute has been referred to a state arbitration board.
In his ruling, the judge said, "The union is advancing rights under the contract with the city, which requires arbitration.
"The fact that arbitration is slow does not change the agreement to arbitrate."
Fire Department spokesman Joseph Gresko said officials are satisfied with the judge's decision.
"There is an established grievance process with the state labor board and the wage panel, and this union's requested injunction would have circumvented that process," Gresko said.
"We will continue to move forward and, hopefully, a resolution to this problem will be made in the near future."
But Roger Kergaravat, president of the firefighters' union, said while the dispute is arbitrated, the firefighter is losing 20 percent of his pay.
"I, like most Bridgeport firefighters, live pretty much hand-to-mouth, and if 20 percent of my paycheck was withheld, it would create a hardship for my family and me," he said.
"There is no city policy concerning the levying of fines and we believe that it can lead, as it did in this case, to the abuse of administrative power," Kergaravat added.
"In essence, the chief serves as judge, jury and executioner."
Daniel Tepfer, who covers state courts and law enforcement issues, can be reached at 330-6308.