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Chandler piggies lose frivolous lawsuit over pay. I suspect if the piggies are going to file frivolous lawsuits against their employer they also arrest people on frivolous charges to punish them.
Chandler police group loses lawsuit against city over pay by Edythe Jensen - Feb. 18, 2011 05:13 PM The Arizona Republic The Chandler Lieutenant and Sergeants Association (CLASA) lost its lawsuit against the city over police merit raises and may have to pay the city's legal expenses. The City Council will meet behind closed doors Thursday to discuss the litigation. Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe dismissed the suit, which was filed in June after the council approved budget cuts to avoid a deficit. The cuts included freezing merit pay increases for most employees, but giving them lump sum payments equal to what the raises would have been. At the time, the police group argued that the one-time payments violated personnel rules and the officers' employment contract and would negatively affect their careers for years. James Cool, attorney for the sergeants and lieutenants, said city's actions denied worthy officers their promised career advancements and will reduce their future salary and retirement benefits. "Merit increases are not supposed to be based on budget, they're based on merit," he said. In his ruling, Donahoe said personnel rules can be changed by the City Council and CLASA's grievances were resolved through binding arbitration before the lawsuit was filed. He also said the association failed to file a notice of claim before they sued as required by state law. Sgt. Keith Benjamin, spokesman for CLASA, did not return calls seeking comment. David Pennartz, attorney representing Chandler, said the only pending issue is who pays the legal fees; the amount has not been made public. The city is asking the judge to make CLASA pay, and the next court hearing is Feb. 28 |