Suit filed by city workers (06/30/06)

Four city of Portland workers reprimanded after failing to attend the funeral of a city official last year have filed suit against Mayor Bruce Hosier and the city.

Wastewater treatment plant superintendent Bob Brelsford, and plant employees Crystal Chapman, Dave McGraw and Dean Chapman, filed the suit June 23 in Jay Superior Court.

The employees are seeking to have a letter of reprimand removed from their personnel files, compensation for damage to the plaintiffs, punitive damages, costs in relation to the suit, attorney fees and compensation for other damages.

Hosier said in a prepared statement today: “As mayor of the city of Portland I believe that all my actions which I took in this matter were appropriate and intended to honor the life and service to this community of Barbara K. Blackford, who was a dedicated public servant and clerk-treasurer of the city of Portland. I can make no further comment due to the nature of the pending litigation and upon the advice of my attorney.”

Contacted Thursday, Brelsford declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The suit comes nearly 10 months after the mayor and the city’s board of works voted to reprimand five wastewater plant employees for not attending the mandatory calling and/or funeral in July of 2005 for Blackford. Brelsford also was written up because he refused to reprimand his employees for not attending. The city’s clerk-treasurer died July 20 from a sudden illness.

On July 21, Hosier issued a memo to all city department heads stating that attendance at both the calling and funeral services for Blackford was “mandatory.”

The written reprimands were placed in the employees’ files. According to the suit, the employee handbook states that after a letter of discipline is written, another violation could be grounds for termination.

Among those also reprimanded were McGraw, Dean Chapman and Crystal Chapman.

Five of the six city employees requested a grievance hearing, but their requests were denied by the board of works on Sept. 1.

After that meeting, Brelsford said he and four of his full-time employees were exploring their options for further action. Neither Brelsford nor his employees were permitted to speak during the executive portion of that meeting.

The city employees who did attend the services were paid for their time. All city employees were apparently told to take the afternoon off on July 22 to compensate for the time they would spend at the calling and funeral.[[In-content Ad]]