Posted on 08/07/2023 5:41:48 PM PDT by matt04
Seven Massachusetts state troopers who were suspended as a result of Massachusetts’ state vaccine mandate can return to work with back pay, following the ruling of an arbitrator.
The ruling, by arbitrator Bonnie J. McSpiritt, also covers an eighth trooper who had returned to duty after seeking a religious exemption to the mandate, according to a release from the State Police Association of Massachusetts, the state police’s union.
The ruling represents the completion of about two years of legal fighting over the suspensions, according to Association President Patrick McNamara.
“Through this lengthy and grueling grievance and arbitration process, the Association has remained steadfast in our fight to right the injustices of the (Charlie) Baker Administration,” McNamara wrote in a release.
...
Whether or not they return to work, the officers are eligible for back pay from the day they were suspended to the day they received notice they could return following the arbiter’s ruling on Friday.
The final officer — who already returned to work — is Luke Bonin, a homicide trooper in Bristol, who is also the vice president of the state trooper’s union. Bonin is eligible for back pay like the other officers.
...
“Executive Order 595 was more than just an affront to the hard-working members of the Mass State Police, it was an attack on organized labor and the rights of our members,” McNamara said. “Governor Baker and his administration refused to listen or work with our Association, but today we can no longer be ignored.”
The same arbitration denied the union’s position that the state discriminated against 156 other officers that it denied requests that they had sincerely held religious beliefs. Those officers did not testify to prove they had those beliefs, according to the arbitrator.
(Excerpt) Read more at police1.com ...
That’s good. That’s a nice cheque.
Excellent news.
I’d see if I could get compensation for wrongful termination and get another job.
This is arbitration.
If it went to court that wkuld be exactly what they would argue because the law is yku don’t have to explain your religious beliefs or prove anything to govt or your employer. Them demanding “proof tests” is not lawful. They are in no position to judge such tests anyways, not their role.
Can they even find them to let them know? They’re probably living in vans down by the river.
The jab mandate only applied to state Executive Branch employees. I’m sure some moved or found work with a municipal police dept., etc.
Either way the union lists the names of those this apples to, so I’m assuming they will handled making sure they get that check. I doubt they will want to return to MSP.
And Biden says “lookit all the jobs being created”
I live in CT. I’ll give our DEM governor some credit during COVID, he never issued a jab mandate for state employees. If you weren’t you had to get a weekly test, suspiciously paid for by the state using a lab his wife, IIRC, had connections to.
Unlike say CA, he never closed state parks, etc. and actually opened them early, he also never pushed for a jab mandate for dining, etc. and refused to re institute a state wide mask mandate after it was dropped in May 2021, despite cities like New Haven and various hospitals begging him to during scary “surges.” In MA, they never allowed any form of amusement park, even outdoors, to open in 2020.
some states seemed more wary of the economic destruction this would wreak than others. A lot of businesses that closed will never re-open, and the NJ media STILL runs articles about “beloved (insert business type here) opened decades ago closes its doors”. That started during COVID, and is probably now continuing due to retirements and sale opportunities presented by the end of any COVID measures. A popular Newark NJ restaurant that had been a mainstay of the annual Portuguese Feast closed a week before it started this year; the timing seemed to have a bit of “in-your-face” to it...
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