WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) - A Rhode Island town has settled lawsuits brought by five reserve police officers who objected to what they said was the illegal and unauthorized deduction of union dues from their pay.
The five Westerly reserve officers will receive about $65,000 in refunds, while two who were fired will receive nearly $48,000 in back pay and be reinstated to their part-time positions, according to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which represented the officers.
The reserve officers, also known as constables, are usually used for traffic and detail work. They filed their federal lawsuits in 2015. They said the town and the police union illegally deducted $5 per hour from they pay for union dues, even though they were not union members and outside of the union’s bargaining authority.
They also said the town retaliated against them when they objected to the deductions.
One of them, Thomas Cimalore, in a statement said the town could have avoided litigation.
“We did all we could to avoid bringing a lawsuit. We made repeated unsuccessful attempts to present these issues to the sitting Town Council,” he said.
Police Chief Shawn Lacey, who was not chief when the suits were filed, called the settlement “fair and equitable.”
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