75 A.D.2d 632 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1980
In an action to recover compensation for accumulated sick leave, personal leave, vacation time and overtime, plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Nassau County, entered September 25, 1978, which, after a nonjury trial, dismissed the complaint. Judgment reversed, on the law, with costs, and plaintiff is awarded damages in the sum of $2,630.77. Plaintiff, the former director of the Farmingdale Public Library, claimed upon resignation an entitlement to compensation for accumulated vacation time (77 hours), sick time (495 hours), personal time (5 hours), and overtime (40 hours). The defendant board of trustees (hereinafter the board), however, compensated plaintiff only to the extent of $1,076.92, reflecting two weeks’ salary, and plaintiff commenced the instant action to recover the balance. Concluding that there had been no authorization permitting payment for accumulated overtime, vacation pay, or sick leave, Special Term dismissed the complaint. We reverse. Prerequisite to a claim of entitlement to compensation for accumulated credits is a showing that the employing body had authorized such payment prior to the accumulation (Matter of Murray v Levitt, 47 AD2d 267). Here, the policy of the board prior to July 1, 1969 as to library employees was reflected in certain written memoranda which allowed the accumulation of up to 12 sick days per year. In accord with this policy, plaintiff had accumulated 217.5 hours of sick time by July 1, 1969. He had also accumulated 328 hours of vacation time, 16 hours of holiday time, and 27 hours of overtime as of that date. There is nothing in the record, however, to support any inference that plaintiff had the right to accumulate vacation and holiday time or overtime up to July 1, 1969. Effective July 1, 1969, however, the board entered into an agreement with the CSEA allowing accumulation of up to 150 sick days and permitting the liquidation of such accumulation upon termination of employment. Although plaintiff was not part of the CSEA bargaining unit, he was advised by letters from the board in 1969 and 1970 that the benefits of the CSEA contract would be extended to him. In subsequent years, board resolutions were silent as to benefits, but plaintiff testified without contradiction concerning conversations with members of the board implying the continuation of these benefits. In our opinion, the only reasonable interpretation of the board’s silence is that it intended to continue to define the terms of plaintiff’s employment by the 1969 CSEA agreement. Any other interpretation would require the conclusion that plaintiff was entitled to no benefits other than salary. Thus, plaintiff’s post-1969 employment benefits must be governed by the 1969 CSEA agreement. Based upon this agreement, it would appear that plaintiff was authorized to accumulate up to 150 days of sick time and to liquidate