PAX Centurion - May / June 2013

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • May/June 2013 • Page 11 A reduced legal fee is continuously offered to police officers and has been for more than thirty (30) years. Our office has successfully represented countless law enforcement officers in their personal injury claims (on or off duty) and other legal matters. The first Law Offices of Donald E. Green was opened in Boston’s waterfront in 1982 and the second office in Dudley Square/Roxbury in 1988. The Firm also has satellite locations in Braintree, which is convenient for South Shore residents and downtown Boston; both locations are by appointment only. The Law Offices of Donald E. Green is a multi-ethnic. multi-lingual law firm, concentrating in personal injury matters as well as medical malpractice, dental malpractice, wrongful death, worker’s compensation, slip and fall, criminal defense, civil rights, immigration, family/probate, bankruptcy, real estate and sexual harassment claims. Don Green served in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1961 before being honorably discharged. In 1968, he joined the Boston Police Department and retired in 1990 after serving the city for nearly 22 years, the last 15 years as a Sergeant in the Roxbury district. He is married to Annette Hill Green, a native of Dorchester, who is also an attorney and his law partner. “We are proud of our investment in the community and the trust our clients have instilled in us to handle and resolve their legal matters over the past 30 years. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the community for their support and patronage!” We would like to say “thank you” by inviting you to stop by our Roxbury office, Monday through Friday, between 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. to pick up a free Cell Phone Dashboard Pad in an effort to promote your safety (hands-free talking) on our roadways! (Limited to one per person, while supplies last) To learn more about the Firm, call Don or Annette at (617) 442-0050 or via e-mail at dgreen@donaldegreen.com . Feel free to visit our website at www.donaldegreen.com or in person at 2235 Washington Street in Roxbury (Dudley Square). Evening andWeekend Appointments Available • Home and Hospital Appointments Available D on G reen A nnette H ill G reen D on G reen The week of April 15, 2013 From Vice President on page 5 time lines showed that a substantial number of officers were being paid to attend court under the illustration given. The changes are so gradually assimilated into the day to day operation that a rare scenario such as this is almost impossible to discover unless having a past familiarity. The case went in as prepped. Decision W ith the contract silent, the issue of the “past practice” which reaches quite a ways back would end up being the primary determining factor. Department testimony included that IOD officers assigned to MIS from the night shift in the 80’s did not get paid under any circumstances. Officers were assigned to a 5 on and 2 off work week and while injured were administratively carried on a 5 on and 2 off meaning 5 weekdays and 2 weekend days. Further testimony involving officers from the 1980’s showed a change in scheduling from 5 on 2 off, to 4 on 2 off . At this point IOD officers started to receive court time pay when they were called to court on a scheduled day off. This was described as the origin of payment of court time to officers called into court on their scheduled day off and this is the manner that all bargaining units were and are treated. In fact to show consistency with this motive the Department pointed to the Detectives Union filing a similar grievance in 2000 which was denied under similar argument and was not followed up at arbitration. The Union’s argument was more in the present tense in that from August of 2008 to March of 2011 on 78 different occasions officers were paid court time under circumstances described. The arbitrator in deciding as to whether this constituted a prevailing practice or new practice opted for the premise that these approved instances were done in error or oversight as testified to and that “mutuality” is a long-standing required element of a binding past practice. Mutuality as described by notableArbitrator Mittenthal: “Some practices are the product, either in their inception or in their application, of a joint understanding; others develop from choices made by the employer in the exercise of its managerial discretion without any intention of a future commitment.” In this instance the City was found to have not violated our collective bargaining agreement. A similar grievance involving an officer on FMLA leave is pending and another involving court attendance during the summer vacation period where arguably any scheduled days off that fall in the middle of the vacation period should be considered part of the vacation period when an officer is mandated to attend court. An additional “court vacation day” is the remedy sought for any such attendance within the, as described “vacation period”. This scenario happens every summer during the 2 week vacation period and if officers have been paid for attending court under this set of circumstances your testimony will be needed otherwise the practice will dictate the outcome. Please contact.