Page 8
OSEA News
<
Legal briefs
by
Peter DeLuca
OSEA Attorney
---------------------------------------------- >
One of the most common and
difficult problems OSEA’s
lawyers must deal with arises
when a member has an ongoing
the polk
,,county
conflict with his or her
supervisor.
Frequently, as emotions run
high and egos are bruised,
-
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Don't yell at your boss;
discipline may result
Avoid warfare in office
( ------------------------------------------ ------------------------- >
""
these conflicts culminate in
open warfare. Conflicts which
are escalated to this point
become an absolute no win
situation for the employe.
But what if the supervisor is
wrong? In the majority of
cases, it makes little or no
difference.
The reason is simple. It is
much more difficult to prove
bad faith on the part of the
supervisor than it is to prove
th at the employe made
mistakes. And if there is one
thing to be learned from trying
hundreds of cases, it is that just
ab o u t ev ery o n e
m akes
mistakes.
The problem is that if you
make a mistake which could
support discipline, there are
only two major issues in your
defense. The first is whether or
not the mistake was actually
made. Assuming that the
mistake was made, and can be
proven; the second issue is
whether the discipline in
question was taken in good
faith.
Showing that it was not taken
in good faith is a very difficult
p ro p o sitio n .
R em em b er,
alm ost
everyone
makes
mistakes; if someone is “out to
get you,” it makes almost no
difference if that someone is
not a nice person. The issue is
whether or not you did the act
complained of, not whether or
not your accuser can win a
popularity contest.
By way of illustration,
consider when you were a
child. “It was never wise to
throw rocks at the neigh
borhood bully.
You might hit him once; you
might hit him twice. But sooner
or later you were bound to run
into him in the alley with
nobody watching. I need not
elaborate on the consequences.
My advice: Unless you care
more about principle than your
job, don’t engage in warfare
with your supervisor. It’s his
ballgame, it’s his ball, and he
or she sets the rules as you go
along.
Film series
depicts labor
The Portland Film Com
mittee and the Plant Closure
Organizing Committee are
presenting a series of films on
workers of the world.
The films, which will run
through February, are being
presented each Friday a t 7:30
p.m. in the Carpenters Union
Hall at 7515 N. Brandon Street,
Portland. Admission is $2.50
with proceeds going to PCOO.
THUHDERBIRD
M otor Lodge
1015 South Riverside
Medford, Oregon
$4
Discount
to OSEA Members
$23/night single occupancy
2 blocks off 1-5
Adjacent to OSEA
Phone 363-1611
I
The Employment Relations Board has ruled that Eastern
Oregon Hospital and Training Center management did not
adequately substantiate its charge that an employe disobeyed
an order. However, the ERB did rule that the worker had been
insubordinate in responding to the order in an angry manner.
The employe, Marque Brown, a food service worker at EOH &
TC, was charged with insubordination by management, for
refusing a cook’s order to help scrub the kitchen.
“It is not clear from ERB’s opinion whether it is modifying its
definition of insubordination to include yelling at a supervisor
per se, since Brown had a work plan which required her to ac
cept supervisory instruction ‘in a constructive and positive
manner,’ ” said Bromleigh Lamb, the OSEA attorney who
represented Brown.
However, Lamb cautioned that it may be wise for state em
ployes to note that yelling at a supervisor may be considered
sufficient cause for discipline.
w
ERB found that the COID’s stated reasons for transferring
an employe were mere pretexts for responding to union ac
tivity. ERB ordered the district to return the employe to his
former position, to compensate him for any financial loss and
to write a letter to each customer of the district informing them
that the employe had not been transferred for faulty perform
ance as the district had previously explained.
Employe: Noral Simmons, COID
Business Agent: Jim Barnes
Other OSEA staff: Alice Dale
Violation: ORS Chapter 243
Per diem rules for dinner narrowed
Dinner reimbursements were not granted to employes who
were away from their permanently assigned work location for
more than two hours after their regularly scheduled shift and
who did not eat dinner until after they had gone off duty.
Employes: Lyla Burnett, Ken Pringle and Larry VanVleck
allEOH&TC
Business Agent: Joe Roche
Other OSEA staff: Bromleigh Lamb
Contract issue: Central Contract, Article 52, Section 9
of the Letter Agreement on per diem
Downward reclassification set aside
Reclassification of employes from Administrative Analyst to
Program Coordinator I when employes’ unit was transferred
from Executive Department to Employment Division is set
Employes: Doug Eden, Burl Lundy, Paul Maison, Dwight
Reinwald and Mary Kathleen Stout, Manpower Planning,
Employment Division
Business Agent: June Wissmath
Other OSEA staff: Alice Dale, Eleanor Meyers
Contract issue & violation: Central Contract, Article 27;
ORS Chapter 240; Personnel Rules
Work in higher class awarded
Employe compensated for days worked in higher job
classification.
Employe: Wanda Herigistad, Voc Rehab
Business Agent: Jean Moyer
Contract issue: Central Contract, Article 28
Regular work breaks reinstated
Group will receive regularly scheduled 15-minute morning
and afternoon breaks.
Group: Salem Rehabilitation Facility, Voc Rehab
Shop Steward: Wanda Herigistad
Business Agent: Jean Moyer
Contract issue: Voc Rehab Agency Contract, Article 9
Letter of reprimand removed
L_
Reprimand removed from personnel file.
Employe: Jim Kinzer, EOH & TC
Shop Steward: Cara Jones
Business Agent: Joe Roche
Other OSEA staff: Bromleigh Lamb
Contract issue: Central Contract, Article 13
-----------------------------------/
Chapters donate for bargaining
Monies which Chapters 160
and 101 in Portland felt was in
excess of their needs for
planned activities has been
donated to the OSEA General
Fund for use in 1981 bargain
ing.
The donation from Chapter
160 was in the amount of $2,765,
and will be used by 13 bargain
ing teams. The donation from
Chapter 101 was in the amount
of $4,735. It will be designated
for the central bargaining table
negotiating team.
In presenting the donations to
OSEA treasurer June Blakley,
Keith Wright said he hoped this
would inspire other chapters to
do the same.
In addition to these dona
tions, Chapter 228 (formerly
Chapter 43), at the Oregon
College of Education, donated
their old work space certifi
cate to the OSEA General
Fund. The certificate was
worth $200.