{"id":2273,"date":"2022-11-02T11:42:16","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T15:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=2273"},"modified":"2024-04-10T10:05:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T14:05:50","slug":"pef-has-a-committee-to-help-you-fight-discrimination-on-the-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-40-no-8\/pef-has-a-committee-to-help-you-fight-discrimination-on-the-job\/","title":{"rendered":"PEF has a committee to help you fight discrimination on the job\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"If you are being discriminating against in your state job, you don\u2019t have to stand for it.\u00a0 PEF convention delegates had two chances to attend a workshop on the work of PEF\u2019s Joint Affirmative Action Advisory Committee to stand with members in that unfair and unfortunate situation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

PEF President Wayne Spence said the union is getting a lot of complaints from its members who feel they are experiencing discrimination on the job.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spence credited former PEF member Glendon Griffith for raising this issue.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Griffith was an investigator at the state Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) in New York City, and he was one of many PEF members there who were very frustrated in 2015 about the agency\u2019s tendency to discriminate when making assignments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe went to the Governor\u2019s Office of Employee Relations time and time again about this,\u201d Spence said, \u201cbut GOER always denied it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spence said a recent court decision finally confirmed what the PEF members at OMIG had been saying all along.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The union serves with OER representatives on a Joint Affirmative Action Advisory Committee now, and the PEF members on that committee are stepping up to help their fellow members.\u00a0 The PEF members are chaired by Vice President Sharon DeSilva and include Mohammed Chowdhury, Tamara Martin, Bellew McManus, Ade Oluwo, retiree Charles Roland, and Cheryl Wallace.\u00a0 They are assisted by PEF\u2019s downstate field director, Ricardo Cruz, field representative Robert Wright and consultant Eric Josey.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They advised members who experience discrimination to start by notifying their PEF steward, council leader or field representative who can provide a complaint form to file with the state.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While you are not required to hire a lawyer to represent you in pressing your complaint, McManus said the state \u201cis showing up at hearings with two or three lawyers who do this for a living.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

McManus works for the state Division of Human Rights and he said the agency will investigate your complaint, but it will not advocate for you.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He also noted that while you can file your complaint online, \u201cyou might not understand what the Division of Human Rights thinks is important.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You have a better chance of succeeding, he said, if you work with Eric Josey to write your complaint and to follow up on it.\u00a0 You may get a finding of \u201cprobable cause.\u201d\u00a0 If the finding is \u201cno probable cause,\u201d you can challenge that.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Josey cautioned PEF members that, \u201cIt\u2019s going to get worse before it gets better, if I get involved.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In some cases where he is involved, Josey said the member receives a notice of discipline within a week after filing and is suspended without pay for at least eight months.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Josey said it is important to insist on a stenographer to transcribe everything that\u2019s said at hearings because without that written documentation, you can\u2019t appeal an unfavorable decision.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the case he was citing, Josey said the member finally got her job back with her retroactive pay and interest.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNobody is above the law,\u201d Josey said, \u201cbut you must have that written record.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He advised members to take the time to carefully read Articles 33 and 34 of the <\/span>PEF contract<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 \u201cRead the policy and understand it,\u201d Josey said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost people fail by missing the statute of limitations for filing,\u201d Josey added.\u00a0 You have just 300 calendar days from the time of an incident to file a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

For more about the JAAAC, click here<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

And if you feel you’ve been a victim of employment discrimination, click here to fill out the PEF intake form<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are being discriminating against in your state job, you don\u2019t have to stand for it.\u00a0 PEF convention delegates had two chances to attend a workshop on the work…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-2273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-40-no-8","issue-volume-40-no-9"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPEF has a committee to help you fight discrimination on the job\u00a0 - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-40-no-8\/pef-has-a-committee-to-help-you-fight-discrimination-on-the-job\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PEF has a committee to help you fight discrimination on the job\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you are being discriminating against in your state job, you don\u2019t have to stand for it.\u00a0 PEF convention delegates had two chances to attend a workshop on the work...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-40-no-8\/pef-has-a-committee-to-help-you-fight-discrimination-on-the-job\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PEF Communicator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-11-02T15:42:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-10T14:05:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/PEF_JAAAC-Convention.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ccanham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ccanham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-40-no-8\\\/pef-has-a-committee-to-help-you-fight-discrimination-on-the-job\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-40-no-8\\\/pef-has-a-committee-to-help-you-fight-discrimination-on-the-job\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ccanham\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0677b03b1fcdadfe00f4e905b97b90e4\"},\"headline\":\"PEF has a committee to help you fight discrimination on the job\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-02T15:42:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-10T14:05:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-40-no-8\\\/pef-has-a-committee-to-help-you-fight-discrimination-on-the-job\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":614,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-40-no-8\\\/pef-has-a-committee-to-help-you-fight-discrimination-on-the-job\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/PEF_JAAAC-Convention.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-40-no-8\\\/pef-has-a-committee-to-help-you-fight-discrimination-on-the-job\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-40-no-8\\\/pef-has-a-committee-to-help-you-fight-discrimination-on-the-job\\\/\",\"name\":\"PEF has a committee to help you fight discrimination on the job\u00a0 - 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