From the Wenatchee World:
NESPELEM — A judge for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation has upheld an administrative law judge’s decision ordering the tribe to rehire and give backpay to five employees who were fired during budget cuts last November.
But the July 23 ruling by Colville Tribal Chief Judge Steven Aycock also asks the employees and tribal government to “sit down and discuss a resolution that all can live with” given the tribe’s budget troubles.
Aycock wrote that relief is “problematic,” due to the tribes’ financial problems. “The positions are not budgeted. No monies have been budgeted for backpay,” he wrote. Instead, he’s asked each party to file a recommendation for appropriate relief within 60 days, and the court will revisit the issue of relief on Sept. 15.
Tribal employees who were fired say they’re still waiting to get called back to work, and some have attempted to work out a resolution but say they’ve received no response from the tribe.
“I think a number of people want their jobs back,” said John Sirois, former cultural preservation administrator for the tribe. “I’ve been waiting since November, and I’m still trying to find a job. Personally, it does take a toll on you,” he added.
Gary Joseph, former operations division director, said he’s applied for other jobs with the tribe since he was fired. “It’s like you’re being blackballed. Your applications don’t go anywhere,” he said.
Colville Tribal Chairwoman Jeanne Jerred said the council has not yet been apprised of the case by the reservation attorney’s office. She said she did not know whether the council will take action to rehire these administrators.
The council last year cut its budget by chopping 25 positions and reducing an annual December payment to the tribes’ members from $500 to $300. Tribal leaders declared a financial emergency due to a downturn in the housing market, which reduced revenues from logging and wood products.
Several of the tribal members fired were longtime administrators, and claimed tribal leaders did not follow the tribes’ personnel procedures for firing staff.
This spring, Administrative Law Judge Maureen Rosette of Spokane agreed, and ordered the tribe to give five employees their jobs back, along with backpay. In her decisions, she wrote that the tribe did not consult the administrators about rolling back their budgets, there was no freeze on creating new positions, and although three new administrative positions were created, none of the fired employees were offered the jobs.
In separate decisions, Rosette ruled the following former employees should be reinstated to their jobs with back pay: Gary Joseph, former operations division director; Kyle Desautel, former economic planner; John Sirois, former cultural preservation administrator; Carla Marconi, former Nez Perce liaison; and Nikki Dick, former purchasing manager.
The tribe appealed her decisions to its own tribal court, although Judge Aycock wrote that his court “has no jurisdiction to act in an appellate fashion over the decisions” of Judge Rosette.
Aycock’s order directs the Colville Tribes to implement Rosette’s decision, but also opens the door for both sides to file a recommendation about relief for the five employees.
Joseph and Sirois both said the tribe appears to be ignoring the judge’s ruling, and after being out of work for nine months, none of the employees can afford to hire a lawyer to fight for them.
Joseph said federal agencies that oversee employment fairness issues are reluctant to intrude on tribal matters, so they can’t get anyone to enforce the administrative law judge’s ruling.
“It’s crazy,” Sirois said. “The RIF (reduction in force) policy says you’re supposed to be considered for like positions, but none of us were asked to apply for the new (administrative) positions, or any other positions created since then. They’re trying to push us out and not communicate with us,” he said.
But both former employees also said they are most concerned about the long-term impacts of last fall’s reorganization, which reduced six departments to three.
Sirois said the reorganization leaves the tribe open to problems with oversight of state and federal contracts and grants, and a policy that can deny tribal employees their due process rights.
“A lot of what we’re doing is for the principle of it. We can find, and we’re going to find, another job somewhere. It’s just the principal behind what needs to happen and trying to do the right thing,” he said.
Turtle Talk 