ST. LOUIS 鈥 A city judge has declined to sanction the firefighters union and its attorney in the union鈥檚 contentious legal battle with Mayor Tishaura O. Jones鈥 administration over the leadership of the powerful 50度灰视频 Personnel Department.
City Counselor Sheena Hamilton鈥檚 office had asked the court to issue sanctions against the union and its attorney after they filed a motion Oct. 31 to block the city鈥檚 newly hired personnel director, Sonya Jenkins-Gray, from starting.
The city called the motion frivolous, but the union said the city had refused to provide proof that Jenkins-Gray 鈥 who has worked in human resources for CareSTL Health, an Atlanta logistics firm and the Washington Nationals among other positions 鈥 had two years of 鈥減ublic personnel administration鈥 experience as required under the city charter.
Just hours before an emergency hearing scheduled Nov. 2, the city provided an affidavit from Jenkins-Gray saying she worked earlier in personnel in the U.S. Army and Commerce Department, thus satisfying the public personnel experience requirement. The union then told the city it planned to withdraw its motion.
People are also reading…
But city attorneys including Hamilton showed up at the hearing on the union鈥檚 motion and asked for sanctions when the union鈥檚 attorney didn鈥檛 appear.
Judge Jason Sengheiser then ordered the union and attorney Emily Perez to explain why they shouldn鈥檛 be sanctioned for failing to appear and for filing the motion 鈥渄espite prior assurances鈥 from Hamilton and 鈥渨ritten assurance鈥 from the Civil Service Commission that Jenkins-Gray possessed the proper qualifications. The judge on Wednesday decided not to sanction Perez and the union.
The dust-up is yet another example of the hostile relationship between the union and the Jones administration as they battle across multiple fronts, including over promotions held up within the ranks of the fire department and legislation handing control of fire pensions back to a firefighter-dominated board.
For nearly a year, the fire union has been contesting the transition in the city鈥檚 Personnel Department, a quasi-independent city department that controls promotions and hiring for most city jobs.
Unlike many department heads, its director can鈥檛 be fired by the mayor. Jones was given a rare opportunity to fill the job after the sudden retirement of longtime director Rick Frank a year ago. The civil service commission also changed the rules to let Jones pick the interim director while they solicited candidates for the permanent job.
That prompted a lawsuit from the union, which had backed Jones鈥 opponent in last year鈥檚 mayoral race.
After the mayor鈥檚 office last month announced Jones had chosen Jenkins-Gray as permanent director, the union began inquiring whether she met the charter requirements the week before her Nov. 7 start date. Hamilton personally told Perez that Jenkins-Gray met the qualifications, but the union said it wanted proof.
鈥淧laintiffs instructed their counsel to file for emergency relief, acting on the good faith belief that the defendants鈥 refusal to provide the requested information strongly suggested that it could not be provided and that Jenkins-Gray did not meet the minimum qualifications mandated by the Charter,鈥 the union said in a filing arguing against sanctions.
The city, though, said the absence of proof that she met the requirements didn鈥檛 justify the filing and that the union was 鈥渘ot legally entitled鈥 to Jenkins-Gray鈥檚 Personnel records.
It asked the judge to charge the union $14,220 for staff time responding to its motions and 鈥渁 public apology to Ms. Jenkins-Gray for wrongly impugning her extraordinary qualifications.鈥
The union鈥檚 claims in the lawsuit over Jones鈥 hiring of John Moten as interim Personnel Director 鈥 and a request for the court to invalidate his actions over the last eight months 鈥 are still pending.