Judge won't fine 'blue flu' cops in Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - A judge refused Monday to fine police officers who allegedly called in sick as a protest, instead ordering their union and the city to resume talks in a contract dispute believed to be at the root of their action.

The head of the police officers' union, meanwhile, disavowed any union role in the mass actions Saturday, Sunday and Monday, saying it might have been coincidence that entire shifts of officers called in sick.

On Saturday, 34 officers on the Atlantic City Police Department's 4 p.m.-to-midnight shift called in sick, followed by 41 officers on the 8 a.m.-to-4 p.m. shift Sunday.

On Monday, 23 officers from the midnight-to-8 a.m. shift failed to report for work.

"We had entire shifts that placed the city, its citizens and the businesses into a situation that could have compromised public safety," said Karen Williams, a lawyer for the city.

The first two incidents prompted the city to obtain an injunction Sunday from Superior Court Judge Vincent Segal barring future job actions.

But a sickout occurred again Monday, according to Williams, who asked Superior Court Judge George Seltzer to sanction the officers and their union, the 370-member Policeman's Benevolent Association Local 24, for violating a court order.

Police here have been working without a contract since January 2003. A proposed five-year deal that was voted on by union members more than a year ago has yet to be ratified by the city.

She told Seltzer that organized sickouts by teachers, firefighters or police officers are illegal in New Jersey.

Sidney H. Lehmann, a lawyer for the PBA, said the union had no knowledge of the mass call-ins and did not endorse them, but that officers were understandably frustrated.

The city was able to get officers from the previous shifts to work overtime to fill the shifts of those who called in sick, according to police officials.

Asked if it was a coincidence that so many officers called in sick on the same shifts, PBA President Curtis Williams said: "Could be. This is not sanctioned by our union."

According to PBA officials, rank-and-file officers are frustrated because a five-year contract negotiated last year by the city and the union has yet to be signed, while officers work in patrol cars that need replacement and with a police radio system that continues to malfunction.

"We don't condone what occurred, but we can understand it," Lehmann said.

Seltzer didn't take a side, saying he would need more evidence before deciding whether to impose fines. In the meantime, he ordered the PBA and the city to resume negotiating Friday.

If he were convinced that officers knew about the court injunction and violated it, Seltzer said, he would not hesitate to fine them, fine the PBA and/or send violators to jail.

But he acknowledged that there may have been "confusion" among officers and that some may not have been told of the injunction before calling in sick.

In the meantime, negotiators must resume work on the proposed contract, Seltzer said.

"We will negotiate," said city Business Administrator Benjamin Fitzgerald.

Curtis Williams, the PBA president, said he would advise members to report to work as scheduled.