Westbrook dispatcher files grievance over retirement

‘I was discriminated against,’ city dispatcher says about how

her request to rescind her retirement was handled.

WESTBROOK – The local Teamsters union has filed a wrongful termination grievance on behalf of a Westbrook emergency dispatcher of 30 years who was denied a request to withdraw her retirement notice.

Laurie St. Jock, 50, said she feels discriminated against because a male police officer who resigned earlier this year was later able to return to his position.

What perplexes St. Jock is why her request would be denied when a five-year member of the police department tendered his resignation but was “welcomed with open arms” when he changed his mind.

St. Jock said there was an e-mail sent out saying that the officer enjoyed his going-away party so much that he decided to stay.

“I feel as though I was discriminated against,” she said. “How can you justify accepting one person back and not another?”

That is one of the questions Dan Walsh, business agent with the Teamsters, intends to get to the bottom of. The union is exploring, among other things, whether sex discrimination was a factor in St. Jock’s situation.

This case is the latest controversy to come out of Westbrook’s public safety division. In September, the city settled with two female firefighters who sued over sexual harassment and discrimination at the Westbrook Fire Department.

Firefighters Lisa Theberge and Kathy Rogers made claims two years ago about obscene and discriminatory acts within the department. They were set to receive $846,000 between them from the settlement.

According to St. Jock, she filed retirement paperwork with her supervisor, Greg Hamilton, the director of emergency communications in Westbrook, on Sept. 22. It was a decision spurred by talks about regionalizing dispatch centers, she said.

“I got a little worried about what the future was going to look like for me,” she said.

St. Jock contemplated going back to school to train for a career change. However, by Sept. 28 she realized things were not going as planned and she wanted to stick with a career she held since she was 20 years old. She thought there would be no problem, since her last day before retirement was not until Oct. 3.

“I thought that I was OK to ask to withdraw my letter of retirement,” St. Jock said.

The city, though, had a different viewpoint. St. Jock said her request initially drew no response from Hamilton, but she instead heard from Human Resources assistant Liam Gallagher, who asked her a question regarding a 401(k) withdrawal request she had made.

After that conversation, St. Jock said, she still thought she would be able to keep her job because she had not yet received the money.

It was only when she sent an e-mail to her co-workers telling them she would be staying after all that things turned sour. She said Hamilton sent her a response, in which he said he expected her last day to be Oct. 3.

“That kind of floored me a little bit,” she said. “I made a mistake and I felt like I was within my rights to withdraw my own request for retirement.”

St. Jock then turned to the South Portland Teamsters Union Local 340, which she said has represented her excellently throughout these proceedings.

An initial meeting between St. Jock and the city occurred on Oct. 1. St. Jock said it went well and she left “feeling pretty good about things.”

She said she was supposed to hear from City Administrator Jerre Bryant that night or the next morning, but never did. Instead, she had a meeting with Bryant and Hamilton following her shift on Oct. 2. Without her union agent in attendance, they informed St. Jock that Mayor Colleen Hilton denied her request to withdraw her retirement notice.

“I felt like I was being fired,” she said.

In a letter to St. Jock, Hilton wrote, “the city accepted your letter in good faith and as such has moved forward with its process to fill the vacancy created. Therefore, as the appointing authority for all municipal employees, your request to withdraw your notice of retirement is denied.”

St. Jock had been with the city since before the police, fire and rescue dispatches were combined and who was the recipient of numerous accolades, including “Telecommunicator of the Year.”

“I was still legally employed and they already had me pushed out the door,” she said, “like a piece of trash kicked out to the curb.”

Walsh said he is still investigating the matter, but he disagrees with the city’s handling of the situation. The city claims it was a “policy decision,” he said.

“I think it’s unconscionable,” he said. “She made an error in judgment and I think it should be forgiven.”

Walsh is seeking a grievance hearing with city officials.

Bryant declined to comment on what he characterized as a personnel matter. He said the city is currently going through the appeals process that is guaranteed to its employees as part of the labor contract. Bryant said a grievance hearing date has not been set. He also would not comment on the police officer’s situation.

Hilton also declined comment.

St. Jock said she is unsure how she wants her issue to be resolved. She declined to say whether she has contacted an attorney.

But as a single mother who considered the department her second family, she is not giving up without a fight.

“Now I feel like the black sheep of the family,” she said. “When I feel I’ve been wronged I will fight to the very end.”