By Tracy Overstreet
tracy.overstreet@theindependent.com

Hall County District Judge Teresa Luther ruled Thursday that firefighters did in fact meet a filing deadline and can proceed with their lawsuit seeking more than $620,000 in past sick leave plus pay changes that occurred with a change in the pay steps.

"It's a home run for us," said fire Capt. Scott Kuehl, who is president of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Local No. 647. "We get to have our day in court."

The city of Grand Island argued in January that it shouldn't be liable for paying the back sick leave and seniority pay because firefighters didn't submit a timely bill for the money.

State law mandates that bills be sent to cities within 90 days of being accrued.

The city's labor attorney, Jerry Pigsley of Omaha, argued that the firefighters missed that deadline when they filed a Sept. 26 claim with the city for the payment and also the same day filed a lawsuit seeking the funds.

Pigsley told Luther the dispute centered on a May 25, 2007, Commission of Industrial Relations ruling requested by the union. The ruling set the maximum number of accumulated sick leave hours at 1,567.

Previously, the city allowed up to 2,880 hours of sick leave to be accumulated. It could either be used during employment, or a percentage could be paid out at retirement.

More than 90 days passed between the May 25 ruling and the Sept. 26 claim, Pigsley said. He also said firefighters ignored a 10-day time limit to appeal the CIR ruling.

Omaha attorney John Corrigan, representing the union, said the firefighters didn't appeal because they didn't disagree with the CIR ruling.

Firefighters did disagree with the city's interpretation and implementation of the ruling, which Corrigan said wasn't enacted until firefighters received their June 28 paychecks.

That pay stub indicated that any accumulated sick leave over 1,567 hours had been rolled back to the new maximum. The rollback affected 30 firefighters, who subsequently filed for payment by the city and are part of the pending lawsuit.

The city said it notified firefighters of the rollback implication and new pay steps in a June 15 memo and in a June 27 e-mail both of which were outside the 90-day time frame.

Luther disagreed, saying the memo and e-mail were only a notification, not an actual change in sick leave and pay policy. She moved the case forward. No hearing date has been scheduled.