Shore
Line Times
By Alexis A. Maislen
was discriminated against on the basis of his age and
education when he was fired from his job.
Frank Jones, 52, of
Opportunities (CCHRO) and the Equal
Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) in
ambulance association in November and December 1999. He alleged
the ambulance association used his age,
advanced degrees in health care management and finance and his
need to take an extended leave of absence to
care for a sick aunt as reasons to pass him over time and
again for promotions and to eventually fire him from
his emergency medical technician (EMT) job.
But the ambulance association argues that
Jones’ claims are "factually and legally groundless."
Jones would like to be reinstated at the
Ambulance to a full-time management position with benefits, acquire a
seat on the Board of Directors and receive back pay for
the months he was out of work.
"
remedy," said Leslie Hollo,
attorney with the
ambulance association.
A 12 year full-time employee of the ambulance
association, Jones was earning approximately $25,000 a year
with benefits as an EMT-IV when he started a year-long
leave of absence in 1998 to care for an aged aunt with
Alzheimer’s disease who
lived with Jones and his parents in their
he could no longer give full attention to his ambulance
job and tend to his ailing family member and asked for a
leave of absence.
Mary Hotchkiss, director of the Madison
Ambulance Association (MAA), explained the options to Jones in a
letter dated Aug. 3, 1998:
"As you and I have discussed, you may
prefer not to take a leave of absence, but instead to work per diem. In
that case, you would work occasional shifts and events
when mutually convenient for MAA and for you. If, after
12 consecutive months, you are not available
to return to a regular full-time schedule, you will be considered to
have voluntarily resigned the position you now hold. At
our discretion, you may be eligible to remain per diem,"
it read.
According to Hollo,
the organization is exempt from the Family and Medical Leave Act because it
employs
under 50 people.
After Jones received the Aug. 3 letter, Jones
chose to work the per diem shifts. In addition to this agreement, he
received two consecutive weeks of accumulated vacation pay.
The remainder of his sick days (five and a half)
would be paid over the last week he worked and the week
following the vacation time. If he returned to
full-time status, he would be on probation for six months. He would
accrue vacation and sick leave after one
year.
While on leave, Jones said he worked an
average of two per diem shifts per week.
In the affidavit to his complaint, Jones
stated he was working such a shift on June 19, 1999 when he was met by
his supervisor, Mike Morteollo,
and Hotchkiss. They "were waiting…to hand me a letter telling me formally
that
there was no position for me at Madison Ambulance
Association. I was also badgered (harassed) for writing
‘holiday’ on the
Fourth of July time card…at any rate I became upset and left before I lost my
cool."
The following day, Jones called Hotchkiss to
apologize.
"I stated that I needed time off to
think about how I had been treated and if I could continue to be in the
employment of an organization that was so poorly managed,
supervised and lacked leadership, integrity and
direction," he said in his affidavit.
Throughout his tenure, Jones had many run-ins
with management resulting in 17 written warnings, one
suspension and placement on six-month probation, which Jones
itemized in his affidavit.
Jones, who holds a master of professional
studies degree in health care management from
long-term health care administrator’s license and a master’s in
business administration in accounting and finance,
believes Hotchkiss was "intimidated" by his
"high levels of education" and cited four times in his affidavit
instances when he was passed up for promotion in favor of
younger people.
Jones vows he is not a disgruntled
ex-employee out on a crusade to expose his former boss for unfairness and
said that when he spotted something he thought was
inefficient uses of resources at the ambulance, he suggested
to Hotchkiss that improvements be made. However, Jones
alleged that his "mere suggestions" were met with
hostility and resentment by Hotchkiss, whom he describes as a
"puppet of the board fo directors."
Hotchkiss declined to comment on this or any
other matter of the case stating that it was a personnel matter.
George Klocek,
president of the board of directors of the ambulance association, also declined
to comment on
Jones’ allegations and referred all questions
to Hollo.
"It’s the ambulance’s position that the
complaint is factually and legally groundless and that when this is exposed
to the light of day to the full review of the commission
it will be revealed to be exactly that," said Hollo.
"All
actions taken by Madison Ambulance Association concerning Mr.
Jones or any other of its employees were
taken based on good cause and other reasonable factors
other than age, disability or perceived over-edication."
"One thing needs to be stressed. Mr.
Jones’ non-EMS related educational background never hindered his
advancement in Madison Ambulance Association," said Hollo. He added that the association evaluated Jones
and its other employees based upon past performance and
overall qualifications. He said that when hiring or
promoting employees, Madison Ambulance chooses the most
qualified candidates.
"There is nothing here that was done
based on age, disability or over education, which is totally
non-sensible,"
Hollo said.
In its response to Jones’ CCHRO complaint,
the ambulance association stated why Jones did not qualify for a
full-time position when he came back from what he calls a leave
of absence. The association said Jones was
offered the choice either to take a 12-month leave of absence
or to voluntarily work per diem shifts and special
events as the ambulance needed him.
"The position of EMT-Plus was not a supervisory
one, but rather merely added tasks to assist management in
day-to-day activities, such as stocking equipment. At the time
this position was filled, the complainant was on
probation and, therefore, was not eligible to be considered for
this position. He was on voluntary per diem
status (rather than full-time status), and he never applied
for the position," the response reads.
Madison Ambulance has responded to Jones’
complaint by filing with the CCHRO. Jones now has the
opportunity to respond. Of the association’s response, Jones said
"Most of it was taken out of context and
shows they don’t understand the situation and
circumstances."
The CCHRO is designed to protect people from
discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations
and credit transactions. Its criteria is based upon
religious creed, alien status, learning disability, marital status,
familial status, lawful source of income, race, color, sex,
age, national origin, mental illness/disability, sexual
orientation, mental retardation, guide dog access, ancestry,
physical disability and criminal record. The EEOC
serves to ensure employers use fair hiring practices in
regards to the above demographics. The EEOC has the
ability to audit an organization that it suspects has cagey
hiring practices.
Although officials from both organizations
declined to comment in detail on Jones’ individual complaint because
the case is still pending, the CCHRO did explain the
purpose and value its organization has in protecting an
individual’s rights in employment disputes.
The complaint will first be assessed for its
merit and validity for 90 days. If the commission determines merit, it
will retain the case. The case will then be assigned to an
investigator and the CCHRO will have about six
months to investigate and resolve the case. In the event
that the case can not be resolved between the two
parties, it will then be placed on the public hearing docket.
A public hearing officer will then look over the
investigator’s report and either assign or invoke a remedy.
At the hearing, a commission staff attorney
will present the evidence of discrimination found in the case. An
individual can come with private legal counsel, but this is
optional. Jones is representing himself. After the
hearing, the hearing officer has 90 days to write up a report
with the ruling. If the individual, the respondent or
the commission is unhappy with the decision, the hearing
decision can be appealed and settlements can be
enforced in state courts. Remedies could include reinstatement
to full-time employment with back pay,
according to Frank Malinconico, human
rights and opportunities and opportunities representative at the
CCHRO.
Jones has one thought for how this all
happened to lead to a lawsuit.
"All this happened because of poor
management and lack of leadership-911 is reactive but when you run 911 it
should be proactive. Good paramedics don’t make good
administrators," he said. "I’m not questioning the
quality of care rendered to
utilize paramedics. Madison Ambulance renders good care in
spite of its board of directors."
Appeared in the Shore Line
Times Jan. 26, 2000.