Court rules in favor of Village of Fredonia employee; gets job back
FREDONIA — Village of Fredonia employee Jason Jakubowicz was told by his employer 18 months ago he was fired because he didn’t have a commercial driver’s license. That didn’t sit very well with Unit President KC Christopher. He knew better.
In November of 2016, Christopher immediately put his union power in motion and filed the necessary paperwork to get his co-worker reinstated.
“I knew right from the start management was on the wrong side of this issue,” said Christopher. “It was obvious to me our employer was unfairly targeting Jason. They were violating terms of our collective bargaining agreement and infringing on his due process rights. I wasn’t going to allow that to happen. Above all else, I was going to protect the language of our contract.”
With expert assistance from the CSEA Legal Department and regional attorney Chuck DeAngelo, and months of monitoring documents and decisions, in March of 2018 the New York State Appellate Court ruled in CSEA’s favor instructing the Village of Fredonia to fully reinstate Jakubowicz with full back pay and benefits retroactive to his termination.
Village of Fredonia Unit President KC Christopher. Photo: Bonnie Peters
When Christopher heard the news, he got all choked up. “I was very happy for Jason, and I was relieved at the fact justice prevailed in this case. We stuck with him throughout this process, and in some ways his story is a good example why unions exist in the first place.”
The village appealed the April 2017 decision by state Supreme Court Justice Frank Sedita that said the village’s firing of Jakubowicz violated state Civil Service law. Sedita ruled Jakubowicz was to be fully reinstated to his job.
Almost a year later, the Fourth Department Appellate Division upheld Sedita’s decision. Village officials filed a two-pronged appeal that was rejected, arguing first that an arbitration hearing should be stopped and, second, that Jakubowicz should not be reinstated to the village payroll. Village officials argued a commercial driver’s license is a minimum qualification for the Mechanic II position in the village and that Jakubowicz’ failure to maintain a CDL license required that he be fired.
The five-member appellate panel unanimously rejected the village’s contention because the village’s job requirements state only that a valid state motor vehicle operator’s license is required for the job. Because the CDL license wasn’t expressly stated in the job specifications, due process and fairness require civil service and collective bargaining protections must be followed before the employee could be terminated. Christopher and DeAngelo knew this from the get-go and both were pleased the courts saw it their way.
The appellate panel also wrote that an employee charged with failing to possess a minimum qualification for their job is entitled to a notice of the charge and an opportunity to contest it. Furthermore, village officials never offered Jakubowicz a hearing to present information to the village why he should not be administratively terminated. Christopher added, “They never followed through on it.”
“There is no dispute that a hearing was never held,” the court wrote. “For the above reasons, we conclude that the court properly determined that Jakubowicz’s termination was arbitrary and capricious.”
Because proper procedure was not followed, the appellate court dismissed the village’s request for a stay on the arbitration hearing.
Christopher, who is a Motor Equipment Operator and a member of CSEA since 1999, said this was not just a win for Jason but a win for all union workers statewide. He said, “I come from a union family. I believe in what I do. When you see positive outcomes like this, it just reinforces the idea that unions really can make a difference for members who have been treated unfairly. It makes all the union work and effort worthwhile.”
-Ove Overmyer
