by Katy Knapp
Daily Lobo
UNM is appealing a ruling from the State Labor Board that reinstated a fired worker and ordered back pay.
A New Mexico Public Employee State Labor Board officer made the decision in June. UNM is appealing the case to a panel of three members of the State Labor Board who will make the final decision.
The hearing was scheduled to take place today in Santa Fe, but the labor board held the case while another case is being decided. The hearing is set for Nov. 18.
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The former employee was not reinstated or given back pay during the appeal.
The woman, who did not want to be identified, said she was fired a year ago without reason from the Department of Psychiatry. She worked in the department for one year - six months as a temporary employee and six months as a full-time regular employee.
The fired employee said the department changed staff management about six months into the full-time position.
"The new staff manager decided, in her words, that I wasn't a good fit after I had been there a year," she said. "I was really devastated by that, needless to say."
Co-workers told her to take the issue to the union, the woman said.
United Staff-University of New Mexico Local 6155 is the union that represented the woman during discussions with the administration and with the state. The union represents about 1,000 UNM employees - mostly educational support staff.
Andrew Lotrich, a union representative who argued the former employee's case before the labor officer, said UNM gave no explanation during several meetings in January and February as to why the woman was terminated.
Susan Carkeek, vice president of Human Resources at UNM, said the woman was a probationary employee. Because of that, she said, there did not have to be a reason for the woman to be terminated. Carkeek declined to comment further on the case.
According to UNM's policy, an employee is considered probationary during the first six months of employment.
Lotrich said there is no language in the collective bargaining agreement that differentiates between probationary and regular employees.
He said after further investigation into the merit of the claim, the union filed a grievance against the University.
"It was true. They never offered any rationale," he said. "They said they fired her because they could."
The bargaining agreement between the University and the union states the normal time period for a regular employee is six months to three years, but Lotrich said there is no mention of probationary employees. The agreement states that full-time employees are considered regular employees.
Lotrich said the University also violated Article 18 of the Labor Management Agreement, which states an employee must be given warning before suspension or discharge.
The woman said UNM gave her no warning before firing her.
"None of those steps were taken with me whatsoever," she said. "I came in one day and they told me I was fired. Therefore I wasn't allowed the due process."
