I am being falsely accused and I must come forward. I have been accused of having more overtime than anyone else, which is true. I was afforded the opportunity to work when other supervisors had time off and/or were sick.
I covered my sergeant's absences and shifts of supervisors who moved on. I covered many first, second and third shifts when other sergeant or corporals did not want them. One summer I covered the time between sergeants after Eric Moore left and twice helped cover while another was on maternity leave.
I can't understand why acting director of Public Safety Gene Burton would say he could not account for the overtime worked for the following reason: part of Burton's job was being responsible for tracking overtime and reporting it to then-chief Joe Wehner. All overtime sheets are turned in with the employee's scan sheet and states why the officer had overtime. All of my overtime is accounted for and approved by supervisors.
I was a K-9 officer and received extra pay when I was allowed overtime to train with the K-9 and for care of the dog, which is addressed under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) established in the case: Garcia vs. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority, et al., 469 U.S. 528 (1985).
I was also available for overtime for games, shows, dances and anything else Burton would ask me to work. I was the one to ask because many of the other supervisors could count on me.
I was assigned Friday and Saturday nights off, keeping me available to work overtime. I did not ask for those nights off. The sergeants wanted Sunday and Monday off for their convenience. At least three supervisors were not on the overtime list because they had stated they did not want to work those hours. I covered when others stayed home with their families on Christmas and New Year's. My children are a little older and understood when their dad had to work. The holiday rate for the university is double time and a half - well worth losing a little sleep.
I was working toward my retirement in a little longer than six years. Our retirement is based on our last three years of salary. It would not take much to figure out why I was a workaholic.
You might ask any officer that worked with me if I am fair and just supervisor, but I doubt you will get a response because they are worried about their jobs with the university.
I consider former Wehner a friend as I do many others on the department. He was a fair and honest man. As an administrator you always knew where you stood with him. He did not let friendships get in the way of doing his job. He passed me over twice for promotion during our time at the university so he could get the most educated supervisor for the job.
I have worked hard for this university for the past 26 years and am now being condemned and accused for no reason. When you make the kind of money that I was making for a yearly salary it does not take a genius to figure that my overtime rate was well worth losing a little sleep.
If you divide my salary by 2,080 hours, you will find my hourly rate. If they had a problem with the amount of overtime I was getting, maybe they should have stopped asking. The current chief was signing the overtime slips as well as my other supervisors.
I am glad to no longer be a part of this university. I followed the university and department guidelines for overtime and have violated no rule or policy. I have met many great people at the university in the past and have many friends and supporters within the department of public safety and the university. My termination was unfair and unjustified.
I had no problem with our former dean of students who always looked at our department with an open mind and was responsible for our department and personnel. I can't speak publicly at this time, other than this statement.
I hope when all the facts and tape recordings can be brought out, everyone will know the truth.
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