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Officer Wins Partial Victory In Suspensions For Weight

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A town police officer who has filed several labor grievances concerning his

past suspensions from work for exceeding police department weight standards

has won a conditional victory on two of those grievances from the state Board

of Mediation and Arbitration.

In its arbitration ruling, the state board found the town did not comply with

the terms of the Newtown Police Union's collective bargaining agreement in

checking the weight of officer Christopher Vanghele. The board ordered the

town to send Vanghele to a physician for a determination of whether he meets

police department weight standards.

Vanghele, 29, who is five feet 11 inches tall and weighs approximately 240

pounds, was promoted to the rank of sergeant in August. He formerly served as

the department's school resource officer. Vanghele filed the grievances when

he was a patrol officer, based on suspensions he was given in 1996 and 1997.

The Board of Mediation and Arbitration ruled that if a physician finds that

Vanghele does not meet the department's weight standards, the discipline which

was meted out to Vanghele by Police Chief James E. Lysaght, Jr, shall remain

in effect. If, however, Vanghele does meet the weight standard to be set by

the physician, then his two grievances will be sustained and he will be paid

for the three days that he was suspended from work and the record of his

suspension shall be removed from his file.

Vanghele was suspended from the police department for another 10 days in the

past concerning alleged violations of police department weight standards.

Grievances concerning those suspensions are pending before the state board.

In its review of the two grievances filed by Vanghele, the state board found

"It is undisputed that [Vanghele] exceeded the weight limitations on several

occasions. However [the police labor contract] calls for a standard of body

fat to be set by a physician. [Vanghele], however, was not sent to a

physician. Instead, he was sent to an exercise physiologist, Dan Kabasakalian,

who is not a physician."

According to the state board, on December 2, 1996, Vanghele elected to be

tested on the basis of percentage of body fat in lieu of the police

height-weight chart. It was determined that his body fat was 19 percent and

that it should be between 13 and 18 percent. As a result of the test, Chief

Lysaght on December 18, 1996, suspended Vanghele for one day. On January 30,

1997, Vanghele was reweighed, and again on February 13, 1997, Chief Lysaght

imposed a two-day suspension on Vanghele for his failure to meet the

height-weight standards.

In the arbitration hearing held by the state board, the police union argued

that Vanghele was disciplined without just cause, and that he is in excellent

physical condition. The union argued that the exercise physiologist used the

wrong standard in judging whether Vanghele met the weight requirements, saying

that the physiologist should have used the US Army body fat maximum of 22

percent, which Vanghele would have passed.

At the arbitration hearing, the town argued that Vanghele continually failed

to meet the weight standards specified by the labor contract for his height

and age and was given repeated warnings notifying him of the problem.

The town argued that Vanghele did not prove that the town was discriminatory

and did not offer persuasive evidence that the town discriminated against

union members in favor of non-union members with regard to the weight

requirements.

Of the state board decision, Vanghele said Tuesday, "This is an issue which

has been going on for three or four years now."

"I'm in perfect health. The doctors have said I was in perfect health. There

are a lot of issues that the town violated," he said.

The town must now interpret what it will do in terms of the arbitration

decision, he said. The labor board will then decide if the town acted

correctly in interpreting its decision, he said.