Veteran gets Donaldsonville job back
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DONALDSONVILLE — A city Fire Department captain planning to return home after five years of active duty military service will be allowed to reclaim his former job, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night.
However, the council’s attorney and city fire chief said that, when the employee rejoins the department, it could mean a lower-ranking firefighter would have to be let go because of a lack of available positions.
“Unless we fund another firefighter position, we may have to lay someone off,” Fire Chief Chuck Montero said.
Under federal and state civil service employment law, employees returning to their classified positions must return “with the same seniority, status, pay and annual and sick leave accrual rates as they would have had if they had not been absent for military training or military active duty,” according to the Louisiana Civil Service Web site. The law notes that the statute of limitations on such leave is six years.
The former employee, whose name was not mentioned, has yet to be discharged from active military duty, Montero said.
If the employee returns to his former job slot, the occupant of that position would have to be demoted, City Attorney Chuck Long said.
Montero originally asked the council to create and fund a new inspector position within the department.
The move would allow the employee to return without having to demote or terminate a current employee.
However, Montero said, creating the new position was just one option the council could take to address the matter. He said city officials could claim that since 90 days had passed, the position was not available and the city could not financially support rehiring the employee.
“In that case, you’d probably have to prove that in a court of law,” Montero said of the final option.
In other action, the council voted to authorize the intent to issue no more than $1.427 million in sewer improvement revenue bonds.
The bonds have to do with the city being authorized for a low-interest loan from the state’s Department of Environmental Quality for sewer improvements.
Long said that the State Bond Commission would need to approve the city’s intent to issue the bonds before public announcement of the proposal. A public hearing will be held on the bond issue during the council’s Dec. 22 meeting.
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