Public Employee Press

Local 420 wins pay for member injured in attack

On several occasions Psychiatric Tech Lisa Brown has found herself in the middle of potentially dangerous situations with patients who have become violent.

A Local 420 Shop Steward, Brown is responsible for supervising patients and working closely with a team of doctors and nurses at Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan.

One of those situations developed on July 15, 2006, when a patient assaulted Brown so viciously that she has been unable to return to work and is considered physically disabled. More than a year after she sustained a broken collarbone and other injuries in the attack, her arm is still in a sling.

To make matters worse, management failed to pay her when she was out.

Under Article V, Section 10 of the Citywide Contract, Brown was entitled to her full salary, since the injury she sustained was in the line of duty.

Instead of compensating her in accordance with the contract, the hospital left her for more than a year without a paycheck.

“The same way that Police Officers and Firefighters who get injured on the job get line of duty pay, our Psych Techs are also entitled to that benefit. We were determined to fight for this member to get the pay she deserved,” said DC 37 Council Rep Felicita Creque, who filed the grievance on behalf of Lisa Brown.

“When the members have faith in the union they will come out victorious,” said Carmen Charles, president of Municipal Hospital Employees Union Local 420. “But they have to have the willingness and patience to go through the process.”

Brown and the union stood strong, and Health and Hospitals Corp. management decided it would be best to settle the grievance. Brown was awarded back pay for the 18 months that she had been out of work.