Ranked Lower on List
Competitor Stymies HHC Cop's Upgrade

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

A Hospital Police Officer is crying foul after an evaluation by another employee, who holds the same civil service rank and is also vying for a promotion, prevented her from gaining a permanent upgrade to Sergeant.

GREGORY FLOYD: Sees conflict of interest.

Senior Special Officer Vera Edwards, who has worked at Lincoln Hospital for 10 years, says that it was an inherent conflict of interest to have Diana Hogan supervise her. Ms. Hogan is a provisional Sergeant and was given an "in-house title" of Lieutenant. Both women took the Sergeant's promotion exam in December 2005 and Ms. Edwards scored higher, placing number 38 on the list while Ms. Hogan was 101.

'Stole My Promotion'

"This was stolen from me," said Ms. Edwards. "I waited patiently for 10 years. Then I took the test fair and square. It was a conflict of interest as soon as they had her grade me."

Ms. Edwards was selected from the pool and began her 12-month probationary period as Sergeant on Aug. 5. Ms. Hogan has not yet been picked from the pool but as a provisional promotee was supervising Ms. Edwards. Ms. Edwards contended that Lincoln Hospital should not have allowed Ms. Hogan to supervise her, since Ms. Edwards's failure to make Sergeant permanently would improve Ms. Hogan's chances of a civil service promotion.

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang WANTS TO KEEP HER STRIPE: Senior Special Officer Vera Edwards believes she is being discriminated against after another officer who was also vying for a position as Sergeant evaluated her as unfit to be a supervisor. After serving four months of her 12-month probationary period as Sergeant, she was demoted and put on a night shift, even though she is a single parent with four children living at home. 'I earned that promotion,' she said. 'I can't just let them take it away.'

Ms. Edwards also believes that she has been retaliated against for speaking up about what she considers to be harassment. As a Senior Special Officer and the single mother of five children, four of whom are under 18 years old, she worked Tour II for 10 years, which runs from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. But after her demotion, which she heard about on Christmas Day, she was put on Tour III, which is from 4 p.m. until midnight, a time slot which she says would make finding child-care extremely difficult.

'Time for Helping Kids'

"That's the time you're supposed to be helping your kids with their homework, cooking meals," she said. "I have one daughter in college, but she's at Stony Brook, and it's too expensive to have her come home every day."

A spokesman for the Health and Hospitals Corporation would only say that the matter was under investigation.

HHC has different civil service rules than other agencies. Criteria other than civil service title, such as length of service, performance and absenteeism are all taken into account when someone is put into a supervising position, said HHC spokesman James Saunders.

'237' Head Intervenes

The Director of Hospital Police at Lincoln, Guillermo Magdeleno, defended the supervisory arrangement in a memo he wrote Nov. 19 in response to an Oct. 16 harassment complaint filed by Ms. Edwards. He noted that Ms. Hogan had seniority over Ms. Edwards and wrote, "Regardless of your promotion due to a Senior Special Officer Civil Servant Exam, which demonstrates a basic knowledge of the responsibilities of a Senior Special Officer, Lieutenant Hogan is adequately trained and experienced to not only evaluate your performance as a rookie Sergeant, but also to supervise you."

Ms. Hogan was made a provisional Sergeant in September 2001 at Harlem Hospital and promoted to "in-house" Lieutenant on Jan. 2, 2007 at Lincoln, according to the memo. By law, employees are only supposed to remain in provisional jobs for nine months.

Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd, who represents the officers, said that he was making some phone calls on Ms. Edwards's behalf. "I have to fault HHC for allowing that to occur," he said. "You can't have two people of the same civil service rank supervising one another."

Seeking Added Title

He added that he believed that there was a shortage of supervision inside the ranks of the Hospital Police and that the city should add a fourth title to increase the number of supervisory positions.

Ms. Hogan was on vacation last week, according to other Lincoln Hospital staff members, and could not be reached for comment.

Ms. Edwards had filed complaints alleging harassment by Ms. Hogan and other supervisors beginning in August after her appointment, but most of the complaints were dismissed by hospital management. Ms. Edwards has also filed several Equal Employment Opportunity complaints over the past few years, which were either dismissed or handled by hospital management by shifting personnel.

Sees a Pattern

In the Nov. 19 memo, Mr. Magdeleno ends his four-page summary with the opinion, "Note that each Supervisor that has attempted to assist you with your new role has been identified by you as intimidating and retaliatory. Therefore it is our opinion that you are unreceptive to proper training, in order to effectively perform your duties, which are [sic] deemed as counterproductive to the Department and will be addressed accordingly."

But Ms. Edwards believes she was never given a chance. "They have their own group of people that they like, " she said of management, "and they want to keep the top spots for them."

Several current Lincoln Hospital Police Officers and others who have transferred to other hospitals confirmed Ms. Edwards's account of favoritism, but did not want their names used out of fear of retaliation.

'She's a Professional'

In contrast to Mr. Magdeleno's assessment, Lincoln Hospital Lieut. Samuel Straws wrote a letter to hospital management on Ms. Edwards's behalf on Dec. 27 after her demotion became public. "Currently Sgt. Vera Edwards is directly under my supervision," the letter states. "She has displayed a professional and positive attitude towards her position. Since her placement on my tour she interacts well with her subordinates and individuals from different departments. She has shown the desire to learn and given time will make an excellent Supervisor."

Ms. Edwards, who is now on medical leave, said she would pursue her case with another EEO complaint and was hoping to find a lawyer to bring a class-action suit for a group of employees who believe they have been systematically harassed.

"I earned that promotion," she said. "I can't just let them take it away."