Firefighters Union Sues NY City over Discipline Policy

SYRACUSE, N.Y—The Syracuse Fire Fighters Association claims a new discipline policy impacting city cops shouldn’t apply to firefighters, and is taking its argument to court.

In a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court last week, the fire union balked at city lawyers’ application of a century-old law that says discipline for cops and firefighters cannot be part of contract negotiations, and is instead up to the mayor. That means cops and firefighters are no longer allowed to seek arbitration from an independent third party if they disagree with discipline.

The fire union is asking a judge to declare the discipline changes don’t apply to its members.

Union President Paul Motondo said the city and the union have negotiated on discipline for more than 50 years and have agreed on using third-party arbitration.

“The benefits of having a third party far outweigh having a one-sided judge, jury and executioner,” he said.

Union lawyers challenged the city’s reliance on the Second Class Cities Law, a 1906 law that puts discipline for cops and firefighters in the hands of a public safety commissioner, not a union contract.

Union lawyers say subsequent laws and the Syracuse City Charter override the Second Class Cities Law, and that discipline should be collectively agreed upon by the union and the city.

Motondo said the city is cherry-picking one piece of the Second Class Cities Law. There are many other parts of that law which are no longer observed, he said.

“Why are we selectively taking portion of Second Class Cities and others we’re not?” he said.

Kristen Smith, corporation counsel for the City of Syracuse, said she stands by her interpretation of the law and of a recent New York Court of Appeals ruling out of Schenectady backing it up. She previously asked a judge to waive arbitration for four police officers who are challenging discipline doled out by the new chief.

Smith’s legal team is currently preparing its response to the union’s lawsuit.

Since Mayor Ben Walsh appointed Michael Monds as fire chief last year, there have been no disciplinary cases that required arbitration, Motondo said. He attributed that to the positive working relationship between the chief and the union -- something he said was lacking under the former administration.

“Anytime discipline has come up, it has been done through process and every single one has been settled without arbitration,” he said. “Why do we want to jeopardize that?”

In addition to challenging the Second Class Cities Law, the lawsuit states there is a greater public interest in maintaining public authority over cops than firefighters and notes differences in duties and actions of police officers and firefighters.

“While there exists a strong public policy and interest in preserving official authority over the police, there is no similar corollary with firefighters,” the lawsuit claims. “Union members are not responsible for law enforcement and have not been accused of Civil Rights Law violations by members of the public based on activities performed while on duty.”

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