Public Employee Press

Human Rights Wrongs Commission

An impartial arbitrator ruled in May that the Human Rights Commission violated the citywide contract when it denied a Local 154 member sick leave and docked his pay for taking his ailing mother for cancer treatment.

In June 2008, 18-year veteran Human Rights Specialist Miguel Ramirez faced the uncertainty that comes when a beloved relative is diagnosed with cancer. He requested one day off to accompany his mother to North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital. The contract provides for such leave, and the scheduled sick day was listed in his management-approved work schedule.

HRC's inhumane action

To Ramirez’s surprise, after he had taken the day the agency e-mailed him that his “leave was not approved” and deducted a day’s pay for the absence.

“It was a matter of dignity and fighting for my rights,” Ramirez said. “Every day I fight for the rights of other New Yorkers. This is a very sensitive issue. She is my mother, not just a number.”

By considering Ramirez AWOL and docking his pay, the Human Rights Commission “acted inhumanely and showed poor judgment,” said Local 154 President Juan Fernandez. DC 37 Rep Marianela Santana filed a grievance over the contract violation, and union attorney Alan M. Brown handled the case in arbitration.

The agency argued that, “if an employee is required to request leave, the employer has the ability to deny or approve that leave.”

But an impartial arbitrator found that reasoning faulty and wrote, “Sick leave is an earned right … not a gift that is within the unfettered discretion of an agency head to approve or deny.”

Union victory

While the HRC’s policy asks for at least 24 hours notice, except in emergency, Ramirez requested the leave five days in advance. HRC was “disingenuously” using annual leave rules to reject his sick leave day, said the arbitrator in the May 26 decision that ordered the agency to restore Ramirez’s pay.

“Miguel Ramirez confronted injustice without bitterness or anger,” said Brown. “His quiet determination to right a wrong served as an inspiration to everyone he worked with in the union.”

“I am grateful to the union for the victory and the opportunity to expose injustices we face every day at this agency,” said Ramirez.

“We were able to make sure the citywide contract is respected and we sent a message to HRC that we are not going to tolerate misapplication of the contract,” Fernandez said.

— DSW