News from Civil Service Employees Association

For more information contact: Stephen A. Madarasz - 518 257-1270 (o), 518 598-4705 (c)

Court Orders Law Entitles Workers To Be Paid For Cancer Screening

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (07/21/2008; 1056)(readMedia)-- A Dutchess County Supreme Court Judge has ordered the Wappingers Central School District to restore sick leave accruals to three of its employees whom the district forced to use their leave accruals for breast cancer screening.

The workers’ union, CSEA, filed a lawsuit against the district claiming the district violated state Civil Service law by refusing to pay the employees for time spent getting a mammogram. The law, which has applied to New York state employees since 2002, was amended in 2007 to include municipal and school district employees.

The law (Civil Service Law Section 159-b) states that employees are entitled to up to four hours leave annually to have a mammogram or prostate cancer screening without charge to any other leave to which they are otherwise entitled.

The school district argued that although the law required employers to allow the time off, it did not require them to pay the employees.

In a decision dated July 14, 2008, Justice James V. Brands cited the “clear and unambiguous language and the clear intent of the legislature in enacting the law” and ordered the district to restore the leave accruals the employees had to charge.

CSES President Danny Donohue agreed that the spirit of the law is clear. “It encourages workers, who may not do so otherwise, to undergo these lifesaving tests for cancers that are highly treatable if caught in time,” Donohue said. “It’s really a bargain when you consider the long-term costs of managing these diseases if they are not caught early. The potential savings in lost workdays and health care costs for protracted hospital stays, surgery and other avoidable procedures is well worth the investment of a few hours of an employee’s time.”

Similar lawsuits are pending in Erie County and the City of Saratoga Springs.

Legislation to remove any doubt about the intent of the law was approved by the state Legislature during the last session and is currently awaiting the governor’s approval.

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