Perez Attorney: Former Mayor Due Sick And Vacation Pay

An attorney for convicted former Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez has told the city that his client is entitled to payment for nearly 2,000 hours of vacation and sick time.  WNPR’s Jeff Cohen reports.

 

In letters to the city from late last year, Perez attorney Bart Halloran said that the former mayor is due pay for about twelve hundred hours of unused vacation time and more than 760 hours of back sick pay - both based on an hourly wage of nearly $67 dollars.

 

"There isn't really a system that they had by which they reflected his vacation days.  So, I think part of that is, as the mayor, you're probably never truly on vacation as I'm sure Mayor Segarra would now agree."

 

Halloran said he based his numbers on those from the mayor's paystub.  Then, he deducted some hours based on Perez's own records of his work schedule.

 

"I asked the mayor to go through his calendars and pick out days where he really thought that it was more vacation than work, and that's what he did and we submitted that."

 

It’s not immediately clear if the city pays 100 percent of accrued sick and vacation time.  And Halloran didn't know whether Perez took vacation time during his trial last summer.  The former mayor left office after he was found guilty on several corruption related charges.

 

Still, Halloran told the city that he'd like his client to get paid.

 

"The reason I said time was of the essence was I think he's been owed the money for a while now. And I want this thing resolved."

 

Halloran says he and the city have agreed to bring the issue to a close in binding arbitration.

 

For WNPR, I’m Jeff Cohen.