Posted: 5/24/05
Board considers grievance request
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Houston County commissioners have 10 days to determine the next step in a grievance filed by jailer/dispatcher Jessica Lewis.
Lewis was injured in January when she fell on ice outside the sheriffís office while she was on a break. She missed a total of 29 hours because of the injury.
County personnel director Tim Comstock used 29 hours from Lewisís banked sick time to cover the hours that she missed.
Chuck Bengston, a business agent for Law Enforcement Labor Services, Inc. in St. Paul, told the board at a Step III Grievance Hearing on May 17 that Lewis objects to that.
He said Lewis should have been covered by the ìinjury on dutyî provision of the Law Enforcement Labor Services (LELS) contract.
The county appears to be arguing language that is not in the labor agreement, and is trying to ìgrasp at any straw,î Bengston said.
Restoring the 29 hours of sick leave would not cost the county any money, he added, since she has already been paid. He called it a paper shuffle.
ìArbitration costs thousands of dollars,î he said.
The county is sending a bad message to its employees if the county doesnít stand behind them when they are injured on duty, Bengston added.
Comstock countered that the LELS contract does not define what a disabling injury is. ìIt didnít meet the threshold to be a lost-time injury,î he said.
The issue is not just about doing the right thing for Lewis, Comstock said. ìThis sets a precedent for how we handle each and every claim in the future,î he said.
Comstock also disagreed that arbitration would cost thousands of dollars.
Workers compensation insurance covered her medical expenses, but not her lost time. Workers compensation requires a three-day waiting period before it covers for lost time.
Bengston concluded the discussion by saying that the county could have put a three-day waiting period into its LELS contract.
The county board now has 10 days to decide whether to accept or deny the grievance. They did not discuss it at the hearing.
If they deny the grievance, the next step will be mediation with the Bureau of Mediation Services.
Mike Olson, LELS local president, also attended the meeting but did not speak.
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