Wallingford to Pay Police Officer Who Filed Discrimination Complaint

The Wallingford Town Council Tuesday agreed to a payment to settle a case a pregnant town police officer brought when she was refused light duty.

The terms of the settlement weren't released, but the council approved the payment to settle the case Officer Annie Balcastro brought against the town last year.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Balcastro requested to be put on light duty in January of 2012 due to her high risk pregnancy. But the Wallingford Police Department has a policy of not putting officers on light duty, forcing them to go on disability or workman's compensation.

According to the ACLU, the department has "an unwritten no light duty policy for police officers." In June 2012, the ACLU filed a charge of discrimination on Balcastro's behalf with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. 

"Police officers who are limited by an injury on the job are paid to be out of work, through a combination of workers compensation and department pay," it says. Police officers who are limited by non-job related injuries or conditions either have to work full duty or must exhaust sick or other leave time, and then take unpaid leave."

That's true, according to Mayor William Dickinson.

"In the Police Department, there is no light duty," he said. "We don't employ anyone at the Police Department who is unable to carry out their duties."

It's in the best interest of the town and its citizens to employ such a practice, Dickinson said.

"The Police Department is charged with a lot of responsibility dealing with emergencies," the mayor said. If an officer were to be placed on light duty and taken off patrols, that would raise overtime costs since another officer would have to cover that loss, he said.

"We would have a lot more overtime for those unable to perform their functions," he said. "We will always have people arguing these points, and it may or may not have value, but our belief is an officer must be able to perform the basic duties of the department."

But that policy is discriminatory against pregnant women, the ACLU argues.

"We contend that the no light duty policy discriminates against women and violates the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to accommodate pregnant women," it said. "Our client had to take unpaid leave despite the availability of a light duty job in the community policing department."

Council member Nick Economopoulos said he thought the town's Diversity Committee had addressed these issues eight years ago.

"They made recommendations and I was wondering if they had ever been implemented so this kind of thing won't cost us money," he said.

But nothing the committee has worked on would have affected a case like this, Dickinson said.

Resident Geno Zandri said he fears the settlement could lead to more in the future.

"If this were to arise again, this case will show precedent and we will have to settle again," he said. 

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