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Captain Reinstated After Claimed “Lay-Off”
By Dieter C. Dammeier
LACKIE & DAMMEIER LLP
It is always a wonderful compliment when a
member of management who is mistreated by his or her employer selects you
to handle the dispute. One such case involves Captain Andrew Harvey of the
Covina Police Department. Harvey had been a Captain at Covina since 1992,
when he was abruptly “laid-off” from his position and denied his right to
demote to a Lieutenant position.
Harvey’s educational
background, having a Doctorate and authoring a nationally-recognized book
on leadership, provides insight into his capabilities and helps explain
why he was hired in Covina as a Captain from Alhambra P.D., where he
served as a Police Sergeant. It appeared however that Captain Harvey’s
skills and abilities threatened Police Chief Kim Raney’s position. At one
point, Chief Raney asked Harvey to seek employment elsewhere, despite his
excellent documented performance record. Captain Harvey apparently did not
move quickly enough.
Harvey led the Police
Management negotiations and successfully negotiated a contract for 20%
raises over a three year period, with 10% effective immediately. Within
two hours of Captain Harvey signing the new MOU, he received a lay-off
notice. Of course, no mention of reducing the one and only captain
position in the department was mentioned during negotiations. The notice
claimed that the lay-off was due to a “shortage of funds.” Interestingly,
however, the City had just approved citywide employee raises exceeding
$300,000, including one for the police chief and the remaining members of
Harvey’s bargaining unit. Yet due to this “shortage of funds”, Covina
would be one of the only cities in Los Angeles County without a police
captain. Moreover, Harvey was the only employee in the entire city who
received a lay-off notice.
Upon receiving his notice of
lay-off, Harvey requested, pursuant to the MOU, the ability to bump into a
lower classification, that being a lieutenant position. The City denied
this request. The City maintained a preposterous position that Harvey was
not qualified to be a Lieutenant, a position he had been supervising for
over ten years. Harvey exhausted the grievance procedure in the face of
the City’s baseless positions.
When litigation became Captain
Harvey’s only recourse, he retained the law firm of Lackie & Dammeier LLP
to vindicate his position. A Petition for Writ of Mandate was quickly
filed in Superior Court to compel the City to reinstate Captain Harvey
back to his position as Captain or, in the alternative, to the position of
Lieutenant as required by the MOU. Mediation resulted with the parties
agreeing to reinstatement of Harvey to his Captain’s position, Harvey
receiving an industrial retirement, and the City paying back pay and
attorney fees.
Harvey was happy with the
resolution and his ability to move on. Harvey, age 43, will receive well
in excess of 2 million tax-free dollars as a result of this settlement,
along with $140,000 back pay and $100,000 in attorney fees paid by the
City of Covina.
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