Court of Appeals rules on seniority for layoff

Court of Appeals rules on seniority for layoff

Hondzinski v. County of Erie, 57 NY2d 715

As more and more jurisdictions cut back in personnel, seniority for layoff purposes becomes a critical issue. The Court of Appeals recently decided a case involving the crediting of seniority upon the “grandfathering” of an employee into the competitive class.

The decision indicates that when a “civil” deputy sheriff position was, by local law, placed in the competitive class* an incumbent who had been in the position for more than one year proceeding the change in jurisdictional classification was entitled to seniority for layoff purposes from the date when the position was placed in the competitive class.

Hondzinski, however, had claimed that his seniority should run from the date of his original appointment as a civil deputy in 1960.

Actually there would be two dates for seniority for the purposes of layoff in this type of situation.

The “1973” date would control in determining seniority for the entire work force, thereby protecting the rights of all competitive class employees.

The original date of appointment of Hondzinski as a civil deputy could be used to determine seniority for the “grandfathered” deputy sheriffs “as among themselves.”

Section 45 of the Civil Service Law provides for such a dual test with respect to the employees of a private employer upon its acquisition by government.

 If a layoff affects a “1973 grandfathered” deputy sheriff, then a further determination as to the least senior of these “1973 deputies” based on their original date of appointment as civil deputies could be made for the purposes of determining which “1973 deputy” has greater rights “as among themselves” to retention in the face of a layoff. In effect, there would be a “seniority list” within a “seniority list.”

* So-called Flaherty deputy sheriffs -- civil deputies, as distinguished from "criminal deputies" --had been exempted from the civil service system on the grounds that the sheriff who had hired them was personally liable for any misconduct or negligence of his or her civil deputies. The term "Flaherty deputies" was applied to such employees of the sheriff following a decision by the Court of Appeals holding that the fact that the sheriff was personally liable for the acts of the civil deputies required their exemption from the civil service system of selection, appointment and promotion (Flaherty v Milliken, 193 NY 564). The New York State Civil Service Department decided that Flaherty no longer applied following a 1990 amendment to the State Constitution that deleted the words "The county shall never be made responsible for the acts of the sheriff." As the amendment allowed a county to assume liability for the acts of a sheriff's civil deputies, the department reasoned that where the county assumed such liability the rationale for the exemption of Flaherty deputies from the civil service law was no longer valid. Accordingly, it was determined that effective January 1, 1990, Civil Service examinations would be required for the appointment and promotion of these civil deputies.

Firefighter injured in an altercation with another firefighter during a New Year’s party at the firehouse denied accidental disability retirement benefits

Firefighter injured in an altercation with another firefighter during a New Year’s party at the firehouse denied accidental disability retirement benefits

Matter of Matter of Walsh v Scoppetta, 2011 NY Slip Op 09160, Court of Appeals

A New York City Fire Department firefighter got into a "loud and heated" argument with a fellow firefighter in the kitchen of the firehouse in the course of a New Year’s Eve party. Their dispute, as characterized by the Court of Appeals was ”fueled by the prohibited consumption of alcohol [and] escalated from mutual taunting and provocative insults to assault when the other firefighter hit Walsh over the head from behind with a metal chair, knocking him to the floor.”

Walsh was subsequently diagnosed with a postconcussional disorder, entailing "sensory nerve dysfunction on his face and leg, headaches, and memory, concentration and sleep disturbance" and the New York City Fire Commissioner ultimately filed an application for ordinary disability retirement* on his behalf. Walsh, however, filed an application for accidental disability retirement,** which provides greater benefits than ordinary disability retirement.

The Medical Board recommended that the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund’s Board of Trustees grant Walsh ordinary disability retirement benefits rather than accidental disability retirement benefits.

As the Board deadlocked on the question of approving Walsh’s application for accidental disability retirement, he was retired with ordinary disability retirement benefits.

 

Walsh then filed an Article 78 petition seeking to annul Board's denying him a line-of-duty accidental disability retirement. Supreme Court dismissed Walsh’s petition, which ruling was affirmed by the Appellate Division (see 73 AD3d 1192).

The Court of Appeals affirmed the lower courts’ rulings, explaining that “We may not set aside the Board of Trustees' denial of accidental retirement on the basis of a tie vote "[u]nless it can be determined as a matter of law on the record that the disability was the natural and proximate result of a service-related accident.”

Noting that Walsh’s injuries resulted solely from an altercation with a fellow firefighter rather than his performance of any job duties, the Court said that it need not consider and did not decide whether, or under what circumstances, injuries caused by the intentional act of a third party are accidental within the meaning of §13-353 of the New York City Administrative Code.

* §13-352 of the New York City Administrative Code, Retirement for ordinary disability, is posted on the Internet at:

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/ADC/13/3/2/13-352

** §13-353 of the New York City Administrative Code, Retirement for accident disability, is posted on the Internet at: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/ADC/13/3/2/13-353

The decisions is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2011/2011_09160.htm

Employee may not demand union proceed to arbitration as a matter of right

Employee may not demand union proceed to arbitration as a matter of right

Matter of Hoffman; Board of Education of the City of New York, 84 A.D.2d 840

 

Although it is generally held that only the Union or the Employer have the power to go to arbitration in connection with a contract grievance procedure, employees unhappy with their unions decision not to go to arbitration are now frequently turning to the courts for an order to permit their proceeding against the employer directly.

In Hoffman the Appellate Division ruled that the Union (in this instance the United Federation of Teachers) was not required to seek arbitration after having processed the employee’s grievance through the initial stages of the grievance procedure and received unfavorable results.

The court also said that if an employee wished to proceed directly against an employer when the Union refused to arbitrate, the employee would first have to show that the Union breached its duty of fair representation (i.e.: bad faith, arbitrariness or discriminatory conduct).

Here the employee had sought a benefit from an earlier arbitration award which gave relief for an “interrupted” sabbatical leave.  The employer refused to apply the arbitration award decision claiming that the employee’s application for the benefit was untimely. The Union had refused to arbitrate the question of timeliness after losing at all previous steps of the grievance procedure.

Union official’s advice to employee protected act

Union official’s advice to employee protected act

PERB Case U-5775

The union’s representative advised a co-worker not to answer questions concerning alleged violations of provisions of the “faculty handbook.”

The representative then received a letter, a copy of which was placed into his personnel file, indicating that the “instruction to the employee not to answer (the) question” was considered “insubordination ... and any recurrence ... would result in (a) recommendation ... that disciplinary action be taken.”

PERB ruled that the representative was engaged in a protected activity under the Taylor Law and directed the letter to be withdrawn and not considered for any purpose.

N.B. Although the Union’s representative’s right to give advice is protected, should the advice be incorrect, the employee who follows such advice may expose himself or herself to the risk of charges of misconduct or insubordination.

Retirement membership credit available only to employees

Retirement membership credit available only to employees

Sitrin v. Regan, 90 AD2d 583

Holding that she was an independent contractor and not an employee, the Appellate Division upheld the Employees’ Retirement System’s denial of certain (retroactive) membership service credit claimed by a member.

Citing a number of cases including Erwin v. Regan, 89 A.D.2d 753 [Affd. 58 N.Y.2d 722], the Court rejected Sitrin’s arguments noting that during the period for which membership was claimed she was paid by “voucher,” had no payroll deductions for retirement or social security, did not accrue vacation or sick leave credits and had conceded that the decisions she made were not subject to review.

This is another example of the strict standards applied by ERS in these cases, which standards have survived court tests.