In a written statement from Saracen Landing manager Trudy Redus to The Commercial on Wednesday, she gave her version of the events surrounding an April 28 accident in a Parks Department vehicle that resulted in her being placed on a two-week suspension without pay.
“I deny that I was insubordinate, refused or avoided taking a drug test following the accident,” Redus stated in the document. “I have not been untruthful in any statement made to my supervisor or anyone else regarding this matter.”
The Pine Bluff Parks and Recreation Committee Personnel Committee on May 5 voted to suspend Redus for two weeks without pay and place her on a one-year probationary period during which she can be fired by department Director Angela Parker if there is another accident or other incident. Redus had an accident April 28 in a golf-cart- or mule-style utility vehicle owned by the Parks Department. Her son Tre’ Redus was also on the vehicle and was injured in the accident.
“While driving I attempted to locate a switch to turn off the caution lights which were blinking. I reached down to the left and the cart veered right striking the light pole. On impact, Tre’ was thrown from the cart with Tre’ sustaining a serious head would requiring surgery and 40 plus stitches during treatment,” she said in her account of the accident.
Trudy Redus’ husband Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr. said Monday that she has sought legal advice and will “absolutely” appeal the decision. Trudy Redus confirmed that in her statement.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“I have elected to appeal the disciplinary actions taken against me and look forward to setting the record straight,” Trudy Redus stated in the report.
According to a report by Parker that was submitted to the Personnel Committee, Trudy Redus was instructed after the accident to take a drug test as required by city policy, but failed to do so. Parker also stated in the report that at one point on April 28, Redus said she had already taken the test, although it later turned out that she had not.
Redus was not present at the personnel committee meeting to present her version of the events surrounding the accident and had not commented about the accident until she submitted her written statement Wednesday.
Redus stated in the report that after Parker called her and instructed her to take the drug test, “I promptly proceeded to the emergency room and informed the desk nurse that I needed to take a drug test. I stated that I was a city employee who had been involved in an accident in a city-owned vehicle and had been instructed to take a drug test.
“The desk nurse advised me that [Jefferson Regional Medical Center] drug testing policy did not allow for drug testing on individual request. The policy required that testing be ordered or authorized by a physician or agency. She further informed me that types of drugs to be tested for would also need to be authorized. I then requested to be tested for all drugs illegal and prescription. The nurse advised me that any drug test would still need to be authorized, and no authorization had been given by the city supervisor at that time.”
Redus stated that she then told the nurse where she would be in the hospital. Her immediate concern was the health of her son and surgical procedure he was to undergo, she said.
“I was unfamiliar with the city’s drug testing policy and or procedure, but assumed that my supervisor was as she instructed me to take the test. I further assumed that my supervisor was aware that she would have to authorize JRMC to perform the drug test and that I would be notified once arrangement for testing was completed. I never received notice that the drug test had been authorized,” Redus sated.
Redus stated that she called Parker on April 30 to take the week off.
“After the accident I was recovering from my injuries and my son was unable to attend school for several days. In informed my supervisor on Monday, April 30, 2012, that I would stay home with my son for the full week and hopefully return to work for Cinco de Mayo,” she said.
She went on to explain her absence from the personnel committee meeting.
“I was not informed that any disciplinary action against me was being considered and nor was I notified that a committee hearing would be held on Friday morning, May 4, 2012. I did not appear because notice was not provided. I learned of the hearing after the fact when contacted by concerned friends,” Redus stated.
According to the report submitted by Parker to the Personnel Committee, Parker called Redus at 12:23 p.m. April 28, did not reach her, but Redus called back at 1:43 p.m., at which time Parker asked her to take the drug test. At 2:45 p.m., Parker reported that Redus called back and said she had taken care of the drug test and that HR could get the results in the next week.
Parker reported that she did not communicate with Redus again until 8:30 a.m. or 9 a.m. Monday.
“She then told me she had been in contact with HR to determine what should be done about the drug test,” Parker stated in the report. “I said, ‘I thought you took the test Saturday?’ She said, ‘No, they refused to give me one and told me that they didn’t know what to check for.’ She said she told them to just check for all drugs, prescription or illegal, but they said they couldn’t.”
Parker reported that she called Human Resources Director Vickie Conaway, who told her she had not spoken to Redus since 2 p.m. Saturday and the conversation concluded with Redus saying she would take the test.
Parker reported that on May 1 she spoke with an emergency room nurse who had spoken with Redus about the drug test on Saturday.
“Trudy asked her the following questions: 1) Since this accident happened in a company vehicle, do you think I should take a drug test? 2) Do you think people will be questioning that?” Parker stated in the report.
The nurse told Parker that Redus had not said anything about a supervisor directing her to take the test, but rather that Redus had asked the nurse for her opinion. The nurse said it is not her job to tell anyone they should take a test or not.
“I told her that Trudy told me that they refused to give her a drug test because they said that she didn’t have a supervisor with her and they didn’t know the scope of the test,” Parker stated in the report. “She told me that was a serious misrepresentation of their communication. The nurse said we give them a cup to provide a urine sample, then send the specimen to Healthcare Plus. She said she wouldn’t even have had a discussion about the scope of the test. For future reference, I asked whether I needed to send a supervisor with an employee to be drug tested. She said that the hospital would simply call us for our approval.”
According to the city’s drug and alcohol policy manual, an employee who fails to report to testing immediately after being told to do so “will be terminated” because the “city of Pine Bluff has adopted a policy of zero tolerance.”
The vehicle, a Toro Workman MDX, was one of several new vehicles the department purchased with funds from the city tax increase approved by voters in February 2011. According to the bid sheet from August 2011 on the vehicle, it cost $10,430.
According to a police report, it sustained damage that appeared to include a bent front axle and a broken brush guard. Parker had obtained one quote by Friday on a cost estimate for repairing the vehicle: $4,042. Because the amount exceeds a certain threshold, the department will be required to solicit bids for the repair work, so the actual final cost may differ.
Redus was hired as Saracen Landing manager in September 2010 by the Pine Bluff Parks and Recreation Commission, one of the city’s independent commissions. Carl Redus does not have direct supervisory powers over the department, but appoints the commissioners who do and suggests to the City Council how much in sales tax dollars the department should get for its budget.