IS THE CITY INVITING ANOTHER LAW SUIT…..It seems they just can’t help themselves!

IS THE CITY INVITING ANOTHER LAW SUIT…..It seems they just can’t help themselves!

Guest Column 

by  Stacy Bjorhus

Former Finance Director at city of coatesvilleThe City recently had two employees resign.  One was a man who was with the City for less than eight years, and a member of the ASFCME Union.    The other was a woman who was with the City for five years and not associated with any of the City’s Unions.  Their employment proposed pensions for both employees from the ‘Retirement Income Pension Plan’ which is also known as the ‘Non Uniform Pension Plan’.

The City’s current Code Book states that each employee shall vest, for purposes of qualifying for a City pension, after five years of service with the City.  (Code Book Article II, §38-12 A. 3 (b))

The man supposedly was awarded a vested pension, with a Vesting Letter from the City’s actuary with inclusion on the City’s list of vested employees.

The woman was told that she was not entitled to a City pension due to her requirement to be employed by the City for twelve years.

Is it any wonder that the power point chart provided by the Finance Director (Special Council Meeting 10/3/12) notes nineteen law suits filed against the City. There are fourteen suits that are still pending, four that are resolved and paid and one that is resolved but not finalized?  The five law suits that have been settled are in excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).  Using the first five settlements as a standard the nineteen suits filed against the City, in the current time frame, could cost the City almost two million dollars ($2,000,000). 

Has it been this sort of blatant discrimination that has fostered the City’s employees to file, and win, sizeable law suits against the City?

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The list of current law suits against the City are noted below:

How many employees remain on the City dole that have not sued the City, and won?  How long will it be before each of the employees are handed a reason (on a silver platter) to file a suit against the City? 

The fact that four suits were filed and four suits were won does not give me hope that the remaining fifteen suits will not also be won.  Given the odds, it seems that the employees that do not file suit just aren’t trying hard enough!

Please, contact the Council Member from your ward and tell them that you are tired of bad government.  Tell them to stem the law suits, manage the finances, clean up the City and make it a safe place to live and raise a family.