Employee found guilty of being AWOL when he absented himself from work notwithstanding disapproval of his request for a leave without pay to take a family vacation
OATH Index No. 1997/11
OATH Administrative Law Judge Kevin F. Casey sustained a charge that a highway repairer, K.M., was AWOL for 16 days without obtaining approval for absenting himself from work.
K.M. had assumed that his request for unpaid leave would be granted and he made reservations and paid for family vacation to Nigeria. When his request was denied because he had a poor attendance record and no available leave balance, K.M. decided to go on the trip anyway, presumably because the reservation was “non-refundable”.
In light of K.M.’s “long unblemished work record,” Judge Casey recommended the penalty of a ten-day suspension for the proven AWOL charges.
ALJ Casey, however, dismissed another AWOL charge where the evidence showed that K.M. took emergency leave to drive his wife to the hospital so she could see her seriously ill brother even though his request for the leave was denied. K.M. submitted a note from the hospital upon his return to work about this exceptional life and death situation.
Finally, Judge Casey dismissed “An excessive lateness charge” failed against K.M., finding that the agency did not place him on notice that his lateness would result in discipline. K.M. was late 10 times in 14 months, but four of those latenesses were less than ten minutes each. Thus, Judge Casey ruled that the agency’s failure to comply with the notice provisions in the citywide lateness policy was prejudicial.
The decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://archive.citylaw.org/oath/11_Cases/11-1997.pdf