MONTICELLO – Former Monticello Village DPW supervisor Ray Jones, who was video recorded using the “N” word against another employee, has withdrawn his resignation.
Since Jones resigned, the other worker filed a grievance through their union. Jones is still not working but is collecting his pay because he had accumulated 1,000 hours of time due to him, noted Mayor Gary Sommers.
“In New York State, your argument becomes with the governor of New York State who says that anybody in New York State, unless they are convicted of a felony, gets the benefits from their job when they are fired, when they retire, whatever happens, they get their benefits. So, I can’t pull his benefits. He had 1,000 hours that were banked that were owed to him,” the mayor said.
Sommers said it could take five months for Jones to collect that money as he is being paid weekly.
The mayor said had he fired Jones immediately, after a 30-day unpaid suspension, he would have to be paid until the case is adjudicated and in one case years ago, an employee continued to collect his pay for three years.
