| City votes 3-2 to deny sick leave grievance |
| The attorney for the Paducah police bargaining unit said he will file a lawsuit in McCracken Circuit Court after the city commission voted 3-2 Tuesday evening to deny a grievance
seeking extended sick leave pay after the birth of an employee’s child. City Manager Jim Zumwalt told the commission that if the union wanted to contest the decision, its next step would be to take the case to court. Rick Johnson, the attorney for the union, said after the hearing he planned to file the lawsuit within a week. Brian Kopischke, president of the police bargaining unit, requested what amounted to six weeks of sick leave after his wife gave birth in July 2007. He was granted five days of paid sick leave, as allowed under the city’s personnel policy, with the remainder of the time off unpaid. Kopischke filed a grievance, arguing that the union’s contract placed no limit on sick leave and that the contract overrules the city’s policy. The key issue is whether the contract language granting sick leave includes an employee’s wife giving birth. The contract allows an employee to use paid sick leave when a member of the household has an illness that requires the employee’s personal care or attendance. In rejecting Kopischke’s request, Zumwalt said the section didn’t include a spouse giving birth. “It was being handled by the city at that time solely as a paternity leave request,” Johnson said. “It was being sought by the employee as a sick leave request.” Stacey Blankenship, the attorney arguing Zumwalt’s position, noted that the section in question listed only the illness of a household member as an appropriate reason for using sick leave. The previous section, which deals with the condition of the employee, lists injury and pregnancy-related conditions in addition to illness; Blankenship argued that their omission one paragraph later shows the two circumstances were different. Johnson countered that such a restrictive interpretation would allow an employee to use sick leave if a child had the flu but not if a child had a broken leg. Blankenship also told the commission that the contract’s language mirrored the city ordinance governing sick leave, meaning the decision would apply to all city employees. Commissioners Gerald Watkins and Robert Coleman sided with the union. Watkins said it was only fair to allow Kopischke, who had more than 900 hours of accrued sick time, to use the benefit he had earned. Coleman said he would question the competence of anyone who told a police officer he must strap on a gun and report for duty when he is distracted because his wife needs him at home. Mayor Bill Paxton and Commissioners Buz Smith and Gayle Kaler voted to deny the grievance, upholding Zumwalt’s reliance on the city’s paternity leave policy. |
| C.D. Bradley can be
contacted at 575-8617. cdbradley@paducahsun.com Printed in the Paducah Sun, March 18, 2008 |
