by Melissa Bailey | August 31, 2007 8:49 AM | Permalink|
A veteran city patrol officer who was kicked off the police dive team is suing the city in federal court, arguing through his lawyer police department higher-ups were "capricious" and "unfair" when they cracked down on officers abusing sick time days.
The suit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in New Haven by attorney Diane Polan, seeks punitive damages against Police Chief Francisco Ortiz, as well as monetary compensation for the city. Click hereto read the suit.
Officer Edwin Vincent Jr. had been on the police force for 16 years when, on Sept. 2, 2004, he was slapped with a one-day, unpaid suspension and removed from the special unit trained to rescue stranded swimmers and skeletons in the depths of local waters.
Vincent was the "most experienced scuba diver on the team," according to his suit. Being on the dive team is favorable because it grants officers extra duties and sometimes extra cash for training. The veteran officer, who lives in Killingworth, alleges he was handed out his punishment "without just cause."
Vincent describes himself as the victim of an "arbitrary" "crackdown" on alleged sick-time abusers that started in 2004. At that time, noticing "patterns of sick leave" were "commonplace" in some employees, police higher-ups combed through monthly records in attempt to catch "excessive" use (By union contract, officers get 15 sick days per year, days which can be used for personal sickness or that of a family member.)
Vincent's name popped up: In the first half of 2004, he had used 10 sick days. In a memo to Vincent on July 13, Police Captain Steven Verrelli argued his sick days were "excessive" because only 15 are allowed per year. The sick days, Verrelli also argued, happened in a fishy pattern: seven of the 10 days were used in conjunction with days off or time off.
In passing on the alleged violation, Verrelli cited this departmental rule: "Whenever any employee of the Department has established a record of being absent from duty on account of illness, that is indicative of an abuse of sick leave, such employee may, upon conviction, be dismissed from the Department or otherwise disciplined."
Vincent fought the ensuing punishment, filing a grievance through his union. Police department brass never gave officers a definition of what "excessive" use was, never gave Vincent the chance to defend his case, and failed to punish other officers with similar violations, argued Vincent.
A panel of three arbitrators at the state Board of Mediation and Arbitration sided with Vincent that there was no good cause for the punishment. The City of New Haven, however, stuck to its guns. "We continue to defend our point" that Vincent was reprimanded fairly, said mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga Thursday.
The city and chief declined to comment further on the case. "We received the suit, we are currently reviewing it and are therefore not ready to comment on it as it is pending legislation," said Emmet Hibson Jr., the city's director of labor relations.