Public Employee Press

Local 372 stops unfair firing of Parent Coordinator

Gail Wright, a member of Dept. of Education Employees Local 372, was working as a Parent Coordinator at P.S. 161 in Brooklyn when she was suddenly and improperly terminated in February 2004.

After three years of hard work by the union, she has her job back and has received back pay of about $40,000.

Outreach to parents
According to the principal of P.S. 161, Wright mishandled a serious situation regarding a student leaving the premises early to go home. In fact, Wright tried several times to relay the message from the child’s parent that the child was safe and sound at home through the principal’s secretary, but the secretary failed to deliver the message.

Although an employee’s job was at stake, instead of investigating the situation carefully and thoroughly, the principal quickly found fault with Wright and dismissed her.

Barbara Wehner, who was a Council Rep in 2004 and is now assistant director of the DC 37 Schools Division, attempted to arrange meetings with the school principal several times but was unsuccessful. Wehner then filed a grievance on behalf of the member.

After going through the three steps of the grievance procedure, the DOE agreed in January to settle the grievance with DC 37. Wright was reinstated after being out of work for almost three years.

Public assistance
“We suffered for those three years,” she said. While she was unemployed, Wright and her 9-year-old daughter had to depend on public assistance. “Thank God for Barbara, she was a godsend,” Wright said.

“Gail worked together with the union throughout the whole process,” said Wehner. “She also got the support of parents who wrote letters on her behalf.” The union got Wright’s job back, and she returned to work in February at P.S. 244 in Brooklyn.

She received her base pay together with the collective bargaining increases from August 2003 through Feb. 15, 2007, and service credit for that period. “She followed all of the appropriate protocol and she was still terminated,” said Local 372 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa. “It goes to show that when you work with the union you will prevail,” Montgomery-Costa added.