Chairs Unemployment Appeals
DC 37 Lawyer Moves Over

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

Governor Spitzer has appointed District Council 37 attorney Leonard Polletta to chair the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow MOVIN' ON UP: Veteran District Council 37 attorney Leonard Polletta is retiring from the union after being tapped by Governor Spitzer to chair the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. Mr. Polletta said he would miss labor law but is honored to be working in an administration he believes is 'looking to improve the Department of Labor in the spirit of the New Deal.'

Mr. Polletta has served for 22 years as assistant general counsel for the union, working on arbitrations, negotiating agreements, and taking several city administrations to court. He has helped to win back pay for workers in the Police, Transportation and Environmental Protection departments. The long-time labor lawyer also worked for several years to force the city to provide job placement for Emergency Medical Service workers injured in the line of duty.

Last Chance on Claims

The unemployment appeals board makes the final determination for workers who have been denied unemployment insurance and are hoping to have the decision overturned.

"I am very honored," said Mr. Polletta. "It's a great opportunity to go into an administration that I believe is looking to improve the Department of Labor in the spirit of the New Deal."

But the soon-to-be chairman, who received his appointment letter on his birthday last month, also admitted to some mixed emotions. "I've been a union lawyer for 30 years," he said.

Mr. Polletta said he went into labor law in part because of his upbringing. His mother was a seamstress in the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and his father, who emigrated illegally from Italy at age 17, was a laborer who belonged to the United Auto Workers in Waterbury, Conn., where Mr. Polletta grew up.

He began his law career in Massachusetts as a public defender. In 1977 he was hired by the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers (UE) before making the move to DC 37 eight years later.

Fallback for EMS Workers

One of his proudest accomplishments at DC 37 involves a fight that has spanned almost eight years - getting EMS workers "reasonable accommodation" so that when they are injured, they can be placed elsewhere in the Fire Department for the same pay. Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics had been assigned modified duty regularly when they were part of the Health and Hospitals Corporation, but those transfers were cut back when they were put under the aegis of the FDNY.

"Their work is so physical," said Mr. Polletta, "that they can become injured on the job, or as a result of their work, even if the injury doesn't happen while they're at work."

Mr. Polletta and other union lawyers have filed improper labor practices and have gone to court to force the city to enact a contract provision that allows an employee who is required to take a medical exam and can't fully perform his or her duties to work in a related title at the same pay. "It's been a struggle," he said, "and I'm not necessarily sure we're home free. The successes are hard-fought."

Other parts of his legacy include some expansive out-of-title cases that resulted in significant awards for workers who had been performing work they weren't being paid for. Several dozen Environmental Control Technicians, for example, were transferred into a new title, Instrumentation Specialist, which bumped up their wages and put them on a new career track.

Other Key Battles

Mr. Polletta also fought to have certain workers classified as whistleblowers when the city was denying that status, litigated against aggressive drug-testing of EMS workers, and was involved in the recent prevailing wage award that brought Highway Repair Supervisors more than $100,000 each in back pay and bumped up their salaries by almost 50 percent.

The veteran labor attorney said that different city administrations often have ushered in different negotiating climates. He said that among Mayors Ed Koch, David Dinkins, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, Mr. Giuliani's administration was the most difficult. "There was kind of a hardball edge to it," he said. "There was a reluctance on the part of administration people to meet the union halfway or even to deal with the union." He said the approach led to more litigation, "which becomes an end in itself."

As chair of the five-person appeals board, Mr. Polletta will oversee the final determinations on contested unemployment cases. He said he accepted the position because he wanted to play a role in insuring that workers who find themselves unemployed can get a fair hearing.

'Take the Initiative'

The board has been the subject of ongoing litigation since the 1970s, when the Municipal Labor Committee filed a class-action lawsuit claiming that the hearings did not comply with due process. The court issued a consent decree, and the board has been monitored ever since.

"The Spitzer Administration and (DOL Commissioner) Patricia Smith would like to get ahead of the eight ball," Mr. Polletta said. "The hope is that by taking the initiative, we can demonstrate to the court's satisfaction that we are providing the fullest and fairest hearings possible."

Mr. Polletta's last day at DC 37 will be July 30.