LAWRENCE — City benefits coordinator Judith Perkins, who, for months, has been seeking a job reclassification that would entitle her to a $30,000 salary increase and possibly thousands more in retroactive pay, is on sick leave indefinitely.
It's unclear when Perkins will be back to work at City Hall and she'll only do so when her doctor clears her, her attorney, Robert Autieri of North Andover, said yesterday.
"It's remarkable to me she hung in as long as she did," said Autieri, who declined to discuss the nature of Perkins' illness.
Perkins' sick leave coincides with an ongoing effort to enhance her job description and salary. She's been out of work a week, but still assisting with time-sensitive grant issues from home, Autieri said.
"She is still being paid and still working on behalf of the city," Autieri said. Perkins earns $48,000, while her counterpart in the School Department makes $67,500, she said previously.
In 2005, when a consultant was hired by the city to examine nonunion job descriptions and salaries, Perkins appeared on the list of 59 employees who should be adjusted. But Autieri said years passed and Perkins never received a raise nor job reclassification.
The change must be recommended by the mayor and approved by the City Council.
Mayor Michael Sullivan has said he supports the change and pointed to similar legal opinions on the subject. City councilors have balked at taking any action due to ongoing budget constraints.
Autieri said if the city wants professionals to stay on the payroll, it needs to pay them fairly. Otherwise, "the city of Lawrence loses," he said.
"It's problematic. Other people were upgraded for doing less work than Miss Perkins did," Autieri said.
Autieri also represented John Griffin, the city's former budget and finance director, who was hired in 2005. He left the job a year later, after Sullivan agreed to pay him $60,000 and nine months of his health care costs when he resigned.
In Perkins' case, Autieri said he will either "reach a resolution" with the city or we'll "take another route," he said.
In a previous interview, Perkins said she's been working at an executive level for five and a half years and during that time saved and made the city thousands of dollars.
Last month, Frank Bonet, the city's former personnel director, went before the City Council and expressed serious concern about Perkins' pay increase.
Bonet accused Perkins of voluntarily doing extra work outside of her job classification and then demanding the city pay her for it. Bonet, who left his City Hall job in 2008, urged the council "not to let the abuses of our system slide by."
Perkins, at that time, said Bonet's comments were indicative of a personal vendetta and said she'd previously filed hostile work environment and harassment complaints with the city that were never properly handled.
Autieri also rebuffed all claims that Perkins' salary increase was a case of a mayor "taking care of someone on their way out."
Sullivan is finishing his second term and cannot run again due to term limits. Voters will choose either William Lantigua or Dave Abdoo as the next mayor on Nov. 3.
"Judy Perkins isn't running for anything," Autieri said. "I think she's been extremely patient with the city."
Perkins' direct supervisor at City Hall is Ann Randazzo, who doubles as acting personnel director and a city attorney. She could not be reached for comment for this story.
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