Public Employee Press

FDNY ordered to cease harassment of worker

The impartial Office of Collective Bargaining slapped the Fire Dept. of New York with an improper practice charge for retaliating against Lt. Michael Sheridan, a now retired Local 3621 delegate, for his union activities.

OCB ordered the agency to cease and desist from interfering with any workers' rights to freely participate in union activities and to post notice of the ruling for 30 days.

"Sheridan is an outstanding officer and a good humanitarian," said Local 3621 President Vincent Variale.

As lieutenant, Sheridan, a 30-year EMS veteran, worked overnights managing the facility, ambulances, and personnel including Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians. He ran Toys-for-Tots charity drives in the Rockaways, and served in the ceremonial unit of the FDNY. Sheridan also played a heroic role in Queens during Hurricane Sandy.

"Instead of rewarding him, FDNY punished him," Variale said.

A vocal advocate for DC 37 members in Queens, Sheridan assisted Variale in critical fights to ensure proper training, seniority-based overtime assignments, and sufficient EMS medical supervision in under-served communities.

For this union activism, DC 37 contended, FDNY inexplicably transferred the EMS Supervisor and yanked his shift differential pay and ceremonial assignments. DC 37 Assistant General Counsel Aaron Amaral filed an improper practice petition to stop FDNY's campaign of intimidation and retaliation, and it also filed a grievance alleging that FDNY illegally transferred Lt. Sheridan for disciplinary reasons, and without due process.

"They slandered him saying he was a bad person and a poor performing officer, but this decision is vindication and proves it was all lies," said Variale. "The EMS chiefs and higher ranking FDNY officers were corrupted and covered up the abuse. They blocked Sheridan from earning a living to support his family, all because he cared."

President Variale gave unrefuted testimony that "The chief and his deputies would visit or follow Sheridan at night, which was unusual, and would ask Sheridan why he was causing problems and making a big deal about overtime."

"At root, this case was about a basic defense of the union itself and what it stands for: our collective ability to fight for better conditions for ourselves and the places we serve and live in," Amaral said.

The OCB arbitrator wrote, this "Board does not find that Respondents established legitimate business reasons for their actions and or overcame the strong evidence demonstrating that the FDNY retaliated against Lt. Sheridan for his union activity."

"I credit Aaron and my union," Sheridan said in a phone interview. "They did an outstanding job proving corruption exists in the FDNY EMS bureau, which demonstrates how much we need change in EMS. A lot of people would have caved, but I stuck to my convictions and at the end of the day, I told the truth."

"EMS management retaliated against Sheridan," Amaral said. "And getting the Board of Collective Bargaining to recognize this and to condemn this in the strongest possible way means we succeeded in defending not only Lt. Sheridan, but the ability of the union to continue to lead the types of struggles needed by both its membership and this city."