NAPE/AFSCME Member Frankie Scalzo is a Behavioral Health Practitioner II at the Community Corrections Center in Lincoln. In January, Frankie was given a Statement of Charges alleging several policy violations, the vast majority of which were untrue. As a NAPE Member, Frankie reached out to NAPE and was represented by NAPE Field Staff at a pre-disciplinary meeting.
After the meeting, Frankie was given a Notice of Discipline placing him on a 3 month disciplinary probation. Thankfully, all of the untrue charges had been determined to be unfounded and were dismissed. However, there was one charge that he was found to be guilty of – reading a personal book on work time. The allegation was true, but there were many factors the Department of Corrections did not consider. The book was about reducing recidivism to prison – directly related to the work Frankie performs in Corrections. Frankie had recently moved work locations, and his old supervisor encouraged employees to read work-related materials if they had free time at work. Also, Frankie only read the book for less than an hour on one day in November, in the office that he and his supervisor shared. His supervisor was present, but never warned Frankie to stop reading and did not assign him other work.
A grievance was soon filed on Frankie’s behalf, arguing that there was no just cause for discipline. In order to be disciplined, an employee must be adequately warned that their conduct could lead to discipline. An arbitrator found that since Frankie was never warned by his supervisor not to read on work time, there was indeed no just cause for discipline. Frankie was removed from the disciplinary probation and the discipline was rescinded and the record removed from his personnel file.
Our union contract has very specific requirements when it comes to discipline. If you believe you have been unfairly disciplined, contact us right away for assistance.
