Court rejects sick day pay (05/15/08)

A former city employee will get no compensation for his unused sick days, a local judge has ruled.

Randy Mann, former assistant street and park department for the city of Portland, filed a lawsuit against the city and its mayor, Bruce Hosier, in August of 2006. He asked for pay for unused sick days. Mann contended that he retired, thus allowing him to be compensated, but city officials said he resigned.

On Wednesday, Jay Superior Court Judge Joel Roberts ruled that Mann "failed to establish by preponderance of evidence that he is entitled to compensation for his accumulated sick days." Judge Roberts said that Mann will get nothing from the city.

Judge Roberts also stated in his ruling that by withdrawing his contributions to the Public Employees' Retirement Fund after his employment ended, Mann acknowledged that he had resigned rather than retired.

A bench trial in the case was held March 24.

At the trial, city officials said only those employees who retire are compensated for unused sick days.

Mann's employment with the city ended when he was 39 years old. At that time, he had accumulated 553 and one half hours of unused sick pay. If he "retired" he would be entitled to a lump sum of $4,392.02.

Before filing the lawsuit, Mann asked the Portland Board of Works for compensation for his unused sick days. The board denied his request.[[In-content Ad]]