Public Employee Press

$50,000 in lost pay goes to wrongly fired hospital worker


An impartial arbitrator ordered the Health and Hospitals Corp. to reinstate Seaview Hospital Patient Care Technician Bomani Kinard and pay him $50,000 in back wages after DC 37 fought his wrongful termination.

The per diem PCT was fired in 2011 by the Staten Island rehabilitation and nursing home and reinstated last September after winning a grievance that the union needed a court order to enforce.

"HHC claimed Mr. Kinard did not work full-time, denied him due process and fired him without a hearing," said DC 37 Council Rep Joel Viera-Vera, who filed the grievance.

The rep contacted the HHC Payroll Dept., which confirmed that Kinard had worked full-time hours. The Nursing Office had scheduled him part-time, but he was assigned extra hours and in fact made a 37.5-hour workweek for five years. "This was reflected in Payroll records, but not the Nursing Office schedule," Viera-Vera explained.

After HHC denied the grievance, DC 37 Assistant General Counsel Aaron Amaral won the case in arbitration. The arbitrator ordered HHC to make Kinard whole and reinstate him to full-time hours. Management disregarded the ruling until Amaral filed a court action.

Losing his job was a serious blow to Kinard, the father of four, wrecking his credit and forcing him to quit nursing school, where he was pursuing a degree to become a registered nurse.

"Everything I held as a responsible parent was pushed back, and I am still trying to dig out of this hole," he said.

"With help from my union, I won my job back and two years' pay. Now I can begin to stand on my own two feet again."

"Management will test you," he added, "but DC 37 was with me at every step. With DC 37 our voices are heard."