Ex-IN Chief Cites Grudge in Payment Delay

Sept. 05 -- A former Kokomo battalion chief is accusing the city’s fire union president of withholding a sizable benefit payment over a personal grudge.

Chris Linville, a retired Kokomo Fire Department employee, already has won a small claims court case in the dispute, which revolves around a $1,000 payment meant for anyone with two decades of union membership.

But Linville, despite his court victory, told the Tribune he has not been paid. And he blames Chris Frazier, president of the Professional Firefighters of Kokomo Local 396, for the ordeal.

“It has nothing to do with the union at all,” said Linville, who believes the relationship soured after he led an internal investigation into Frazier related to political commentary, partly on Facebook.

“It’s just a personal thing with [Frazier].”

Frazier, however, vehemently denies Linville accusations.

“I have no personal grudge against Chris Linville,” said Frazier, noting the two have not personally discussed the controversy. “Every decision that’s made by our union is done through our executive board. I don’t even have a vote on the executive vote. I oversee it.

“There was a unanimous vote taken that we all agreed that the situation did not merit him getting this $1,000.”

Linville maintains such a process never took place.

Regardless, the situation displays the distrust and hostility sometimes seen within the union itself and often in public view between fire union leaders and people within the city’s administration.

The case – filed by Linville in May and decided in his favor by Howard Superior Court 3 Judge Doug Tate on July 31 – centered on whether Linville was entitled to a $1,000 retiree benefit payment from the fire union.

The money, according to the union’s by-laws, is regularly given to “any person who retires with 20 years of service.” Linville, who was hired in 1989, retired from the Kokomo Fire Department in March 2018.

Linville, however, voluntarily resigned from the union in November 2013, meaning that while he was a union member for more than 20 consecutive years, he was not in the union for roughly 4.5 years before his retirement.

The union fought the payment, saying Linville, as a non-member, was not in good standing and not entitled to the money.

Ultimately, Tate ruled in favor of Linville and granted him the retiree benefit, basing his decision on the language of the union’s own by-laws.

“Although Linville was not a union member at the time of his retirement this does not invalidate his ability to receive the retiree payment,” wrote Tate in his decision.

“He was a ‘person’ who retired with 20 years of service. There is simply no lawful reason for this court to deny him the payment. Circumstances might have been different if the word ‘person’ was changed to ‘member,’ but as written the court must rule in favor of Linville.”

Linville said he left the union after becoming, as battalion chief, a member of the administration, which limits what the union can do for an employee.

“All they could do for you is monetarily. They can’t represent us. If we get into any type of trouble or situation, you work the administration, you work for the mayor,” said Linville. Frazier, meanwhile, claimed that most people at Linville’s level in the administration stay in the union.

Nonetheless, Tate said the irony of Linville’s position was “not lost on the court.”

“Linville was not a loyal member who now wants the union to reward him with a payment based on loyalty,” the judge wrote. “The fact remains that for the last [4.5 years] of his employment the union was attempting to protect his interests, yet he was not paying his dues for the union’s efforts.”

Frazier called Linville’s decision to leave the union and then request the retiree payment “a self-serving measure.”

Linville, however, believes he was singled out and said checks have even been written for people who retired before the 20 years.

He also maintains that others in similar positions haven’t had to fight for payments, while Frazier rejected that notion, saying only chiefs and deputy chiefs have conditions that allow them to leave the union and still automatically receive the retiree payment.

Even so, Linville would win the case, receiving $1,000 plus interest and court costs. The situation, acknowledged Frazier, has motivated the union to change the by-laws’ language.

But the case likely isn’t over yet. Linville claims he hasn’t been paid in the timeline established by the court; Frazier maintains the union has made contact about a payment and is following Tate’s orders.

“I’m taking steps to the next level,” said Linville, although he wouldn’t be more specific.

Notably, the court case played out alongside contract negotiations between the fire union and city officials and in the aftermath of the two sides’ agreement.

Those negotiations provided another irony, this one aimed at the union itself.

As the union fought the recently retired Linville in court, Frazier battled the city on what he said was a need for increased retiree benefits.

Fire union officials were “asking for parity with the police department on retirees’ health insurance and active health insurance,” said Frazier in January. He said increased premiums had eaten up any raises given to local firefighters, especially those who live outside of Kokomo.

Then, on June 21, more than a month after Linville filed his claim and only three days after a union representative disputed the claim in court, the union’s membership would ratify a contract that boosted guaranteed money for retirees.

The new contract includes a $900 monthly stipend for retirees. That's an increase from $550 previously. It's also an improvement from a rejected offer made by the city in January because it guarantees a monthly payment, opposed to reimbursements for health insurance spending.

Further displaying the contentiousness between the union and the city was a grievance filed by Local 396 and later appealed to the Kokomo Board of Public Works and Safety on Aug 22.

It alleges that Kokomo fire department officials have used administrative personnel to fill contractual non-administrative positions, a practice the union believes puts firefighters at risk.

Kokomo Fire Chief Nick Glover previously denied the grievance.

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