By Gina Tabonares
Variety News Staff

THE Civil Service Commission recently ordered the Department of Public Works to pay the back wages of a suspended bus driver after a hearing determined that DPW erred in imposing the disciplinary action.
By a vote of 6-0, CSC commissioners determined that DPW management failed to provide clear and convincing evidence that its decision to suspend Randolph Torres was proper.
Torres appeared in a police blotter for violating a restraining order. It was Torres’s second arrest for the same offense. When he was issued a letter of concern from his superintendent of bus operations for the first time, he was advised to refrain from further violating the restraining order.
Consequently, DPW suspended Torres for 30 days for “criminal conduct, dishonest, infamous, or notoriously disgraceful conduct adversely affecting the employee/employer relations on or off duty.”
Torres appealed the adverse action before the CSC which, in turn, held a hearing on Jan. 16, 2007 with the employee’s lay representative, Robert Koss.
On June 13, 2006, a status call was called by CSC but DPW indicated that it wanted to go forth with the hearing on the merits and did not wish to settle.
CSC set the date for submission of documents, witness lists and exhibit lists before the Nov. 9, 2006 hearing.
The hearing was rescheduled for Jan. 6, 2007. Documents were timely submitted by the employee but DPW management failed to submit any documents.
Since there was no submission of documents, exhibit or witness list and since there was no management or representative for the management present at the hearing on the merits, DPW couldn’t counter the claims of the bus driver on why the adverse action was wrong.