The Pine Bluff City Council Administration Committee voted Thursday to recommend that a reinstated employee be paid money for a period of time she did not work after she had been fired.
Latosha Harris is a deputy clerk for Judge John Kearney. Harris was previously fired by Veronica Young, the chief district clerk for Kearney. Young has stated that Harris was insubordinate.
Harris appealed her firing to the Administration Committee in July. The committee overturned the firing and recommended Harris be rehired. The full city council accepted that recommendation.
On Thursday Aldermen George Stepps and Glen Brown Sr. said they supported having Harris be paid for the days she missed. They voted for a motion to this effect.
“We deemed her to be wrongfully terminated,” Glen Brown Sr. said. “You remember, I said keep the human factor out of terminations.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Pine Bluff Human Resources Director Vickie Conaway said Harris was fired and did not work from May 28, 2015, to July 21, 2015. Conaway said Harris is seeking $4,031.04 stemming from these days.
Conaway said she followed proper protocol in handling the firing and appeals process.
“If you want to give her the money, that is fine,” Conaway told Glen Brown Sr. and Stepps. “But it is not because of me.”
The full Pine Bluff City Council will consider this item.
Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth did not address the firing and subsequent reinstatement of Harris. Hollingsworth said that the city needs legislation regarding elected officials having complete authority governing the hiring and firing of their immediate staff.
Alderwoman Thelma Walker is another member of the committee. She was absent.