Daniel Brewington began his career in the Health and Hospitals Corp. as an Institutional Aide and then moved up to the Patient Care Associate title.

But in September 2000, after he allegedly failed to pass a background check, he was demoted back to Institutional Aide. When Mr. Brewington was cleared and then promoted back to Patient Care Associate in October 2002, he still received the lower Institutional Aide salary.

Grievance Rep Esther Hopkins intervened on Mr. Brewington’s behalf. She contacted management and settled the issue quickly. Officials at the Generation Plus Northern Manhattan Network in Harlem agreed to give him the higher pay of the PCA title back to Sept. 30, 2002.

“I was very worried,” said Mr. Brewington, who collected back pay of $4,100. “But Ms. Hopkins took care of business, so I give all the credit to her.”