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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Civil Service Board - 02/29/2000 MINUTES 031 a24, 496th CIVIL SERVICE BOARD MEETING ti 1000 INTERNATIONAL DRIVE co CORPUS CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT P3 12_M ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE ROOM RF CHM Ho a February 29, 2000 CRY S`G` N-� qNv BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT CITY.STAFF PRESENT Andrew Lehrman, Chairperson Cynthia C. Garcia, Director Diana Martinez, Vice-Chairperson ' Human Resources Department Rixio E. Medina, Member Alex Lopez, Asst. City Attorney Bonnie Allin;Director Corpus Christi International Airport JoAnn Espinosa, Paralegal The 496th Civil Service Board meeting was called-to order at 8:36 a.m. Item# 1: ' Review and approve'the minutes of the 495th Civil Service Board meeting held on December 15, 1999. Vice-Chairperson Martinez made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Member Medina seconded the motion and it passed. Item#2: Review and consideration of the, appeal of 20-Day Suspension filed by Jose R. Gonzalez, Grade 9 Tradeshelper. Item#3: , Review and modify, if necessary," the holding in the termination hearing of Eugenio Talamantes held on December 1, 1999. All witnesses were sworn in. ' The City invoked the rule. Mr. Roland Garza, American G.I. Forum, introduced himself as Mr. Gonzalez' employee representative with Ms. Graciela Franco acting as his assistant. Mr. Lopez, Assistant City Attorney, provided an opening statement and asked the Board Members to limit witness testimony to individuals who actually were witnesses to the March 26, 1999 incident under which Mr. Gonzalez was disciplined. Mr. Lopez also stated that the severity of the suspension issued was based, in part, on Mr. Gonzalez' past history. Mr. Roland Garza, employee representative, provided an opening statement and noted that Mr. Gonzalez'witness list was prepared with the belief that all witnesses could offer information relating to Mr. Gonzalez past,which contributed to the eventsleading to the March 26th incident. City Witness Rene Benavidez, Senior Maintenance Supervisor — Mr. Bena ' vNEDt of the events that occurred on March 26, 1999. AI Minutes of the 496th Civil Service Board February 29,2000 Page 2 City Exhibit #1 —Mr. Benavidez' Administrative Statement describing the events which occurred on March 26th. Admitted into evidence. Both Mr. Lopez, Assistant City Attorney, and Mr. Garza, employee representative, questioned Mr. Benavidez regarding his recollection of the incident resulting in Mr. Gonzalez' suspension. Questions dealt with the Progressive Discipline guideline, scheduling procedures, severity of the suspension and Mr. Gonzalez' use of profanity while under Mr. Benavidez' supervision as well as policies referencing violence in the workplace and related issues. City Witness Guadalupe C. Molina, Building Maintenance Supervisor — Mr. Molina gave his testimony of the events he had witnessed relating to the March 26, 1999 incident. Mr. Molina also gave testimony, to both counsels, regarding his past work experiences with Mr. Gonzalez' language and work performance issues he had experienced. After Mr. Molina's testimony, Mr. Lehrman, Chairperson, noted Mr. Gonzalez' written request for a continuance of the meeting and afforded Mr. Gonzalez the opportunity to ask the Board for that continuance. In the request, Mr. Gonzalez' stated that his mother was going to have surgery in Kingsville this same day and that he was unable to have a representative present at,the hearing and therefore was requesting a continuance. Mr. Gonzalez formally asked for a continuance and qualified the request by stating that hehad he had understood that he would not be afford a continuance and had made arrangements, based on that belief, to be notified at the meeting should his presence be required at the hospital. Mr. Gonzalez also stated that he further asked, if possible, to be allowed to leave the hearing and go to the hospital should his presence be required there. Chairperson Lehrman stated that he would allow Mr. Gonzalez to leave the meeting if he received a call requesting him to go to the hospital. Chairperson Lehrman also asked Mr. Garza, Mr. Gonzalez' employee representative, if he had been made aware of Mr. Gonzalez' mother's surgery. Mr. Garza replied that Mr..Gonzalez had failed to mention it. Chairperson Lehrman stated that he was denying Mr. Gonzalez' continuance based on the fact that Mr. Gonzalez had not asked for the continuance prior to the start of the meetingand that he had given no notificationto his representative about the surgery or his need for a continuance indicating Mr. Gonzalez had not felt the continuance a priority. City Witness.Bonnie Allin — Ms. Aliin gave testimony regarding events leading to the March 26 incident and reasoning behind severity of suspension. City Exhibit #2 — Contemplated Disciplinary Action letter dated April 15, 1999 and issued to Jose R. Gonzalez from Ms. Bonnie Allin,Director of Aviation. Admitted into evidence. City Exhibit #3 —'Civil Service Board_letter dated April. 30, 1999 issuing a 20-day suspension to Jose R. Gonzalez. Admitted into evidence. City Exhibit #4 — A compilation of Mr. Gonzalez' prior disciplines issued by the City. Admitted into evidence. Minutes of the 496th Civil Service Board February 29,2000 • Page 3 Both parties stipulated that City Exhibit #4 was admitted solely for the purpose of showing that all incidents, the letter of reprimand and the suspensions that are contained with Exhibit #4, did in fact occur. The Chair admitted Exhibit#4 as stipulated. Employee Exhibit #1 - Contemplated Disciplinary Action Rebuttal dated April 14, 1999 prepared by Mr. Jose R. Gonzalez. Signed copy was admitted into evidence. The City Rests. Board took a 10-minute break at 9:50 a.m. and reconvened at 10:00 a.m. Employee Representative, Mr. Garza, asked for a stipulation that it had been Raul Valdez that asked to change shifts to accommodate Mr. Gonzalez rather than Mr. Benavidez requesting the change. The Chair approved the stipulation. Employee Witness Abel Salazar..Building Maintenance Technician—Mr. Salazar brought testimony to the events he witnessed on March 26, 1999. Employee Witness Edna Davis, Office Assistant II—Ms. Davis gave testimony to statements Mr. Benavidez made, prior to the incident on March 26, 1999, regarding Mr. Gonzalez' employment at the Aviation Department. Employee Witness Jose R. Gonzalez—Mr. Gonzalez gave his account of the events that transpired on March 26, 1999. Employee Exhibit #2 — Copy of Determination on Payment of Unemployment Benefits dated June 3, 1999 issued to Mr. Jose R. Gonzalez. Admitted into evidence. Employee Exhibit #3 — Employee Grievance Form dated September 23, 1998 filed by Mr. Jose R. Gonzalez. Admitted into evidence. City Exhibit #5 — Letter response dated December 30, 1998 from David R. Garcia, City Manager, to Mr. Jose R. Gonzalez regarding Mr. Gonzalez' grievance filed on September 23, 1998. Admitted into evidence. Mr. Lopez stipulated that Mr. Gonzalez grieved an issue on September 23, 1998 and that the grievance went through the steps properly and that at no point was any merit found to his grievance. Mr. Lopez continued stating that the grievance had been denied from the City Manager's position. Mr. Garza agreed to the stipulation. Chairperson.Lehrman called for a two-minute break at 11:00 aim. to allow Mr. Gonzalez and his representative to discuss contemplation by Mr. Gonzalez that he was going to be terminated. Board reconvened at 11:02 a.m. City Exhibit #6 —Acknowledgement Form, City of Corpus Christi, Violence in the Workplace Policy, H.R. 21.0 signed by Mr. Jose R. Gonzalez on March 29; 1996. Admittedinto evidence. Chairperson Lehrman clarified, with Mr. Gonzalez and for the Board members, issues relating to Minutes of the 496th Civil Service Board February 29,2000 Page 4 Mr. Gonzalez' daughter's wedding, work schedule for Mr. Gonzalez on Easter weekend and the altercation and language used by Mr. Gonzalez, with Mr. Benavidez and the wording on Mr. Gonzalez unemployment benefits statement. The employee rests. City Witness Bonnie Allin was recalled by Mr. Lopez, Assistant City Attorney. Ms. Allin was asked to clarify her testimony to the fact that Mr. Gonzalez' rebuttal had been reviewed prior to the issuance of the 20-day suspension and that Ms. Allin found nothing in the letter to warrant a reduced suspension. The City rests. • The Board went into closed session at 11:16 a.m. and reconvened at 11:35 a.m. Chairperson Lehrman made a motion that the Board upheld the appeal of the 20-day suspension by Mr. Gonzalez but modified the suspension. The suspension was reduced from 20 to 15-days unpaid and further holding that the five days the suspension was reduced also remain unpaid due to Mr. Gonzalez having received unemployment benefits for the full 20 days he was suspended. Board Member Medina seconded the motion and it passed. Chairperson Lehrman advised Mr. Gonzalez to work with future supervisors to establish a working understanding regarding scheduling since this was the third occasion in Mr. Gonzalez' record that indicated a disagreement with a supervisor regarding scheduling that resulted in some type of disciplinary action. Item #3. — Review and modify, if necessary, the holding in the termination hearing of Eugenio Talamantes held on December 1, 1999. The Board determined that there was no reason to modify the termination decision for the appeal by Mr. Eugenio Talamantes. The Board's interpretation of Article 4, Section 3, H.1. of the Rules and Regulations of the Civil Service Board does allow the Board to consider one or more options, if warranted. The Board felt that if an ambiguity exists or the City believes that there is an ambiguity; the Board members felt that there needed to be a modification to the language by the City because, at this time, it does lead that open to differing interpretations. With no further business, the Board adjourned at 11:40 a.m. Minutes of the 496th Civil Service Board February 29,2000 Page 5 Cynthia C. Garcia, Secretary Andrew Lehrman, Chairperson Civil Service Board Civil Service Board Diana Martinez, Vice-Chairperson Rixio E. Medina, Member Civil Service Board Civil Service Board CS/2000 CSB/MINUTES 496