The Bethlehem Police Supervisor’s Association has sued the Bethlehem Police Benevolent Association in Albany County Court seeking funds it claims were jointly raised.
According to the Supervisor’s Association’s lawsuit, the group came to an agreement with the PBA in 2008 to conduct joint fundraising. The Supervisor’s Association represents police officers holding the rank of sergeant and lieutenant, while the PBA represents the department’s patrolmen.
“Fundraising proceeds were to be split based on the ratio of members in the plaintiff’s association (the Supervisor’s Association) to the number of members in the defendant’s association (PBA),” read court documents obtained by The Spotlight.
At the time, there were seven members in the Supervisor’s Association and 31 members in the PBA. According to the agreement in the documents, the money was supposed to be split in 38 equal parts, with seven parts to the supervisors and 31 parts to the patrolmen.
The Supervisor’s Association now claims it received the share for the year of 2008, but did not receive money for each year thereafter. The lawsuit seeking an unnamed amount of money was filed in January in 2012.
According to the PBA’s answer to the complaint, filed by their attorney Thomas Jordan, the two groups were supposed to be splitting just the current fund balance in 2008, not the balance of each year going forward.
“An accord was reached when the two parties agreed to a split of the existing fund balance only,” reads the response. “The agreement was satisfied when the defendant’s paid plaintiffs the agreed upon share.”
Jordan said he could not comment on the lawsuit because it is currently in litigation.
The Supervisor’s Association is being represented by attorneys for Council 82, the New York State Law Enforcement Officers Union, which is affiliated with AFSCME and AFL-CIO. Their attorney could not be reached for comment.
Supervisor’s Association President Sgt. Steve Kraz said the lawsuit is in it’s infancy stages, but there were talks between the two union’s before the paper work was filed which were not successful.
“We would like to come to a resolution, however, the BPA has yet to approach us with anything,” he said.
The lawsuit argues the BPA breached its contract by not paying the supervisors their share of the proceeds and continues to refuse to perform its obligations under the contract.
The supervisors are seeking a judgment directing the BPA to perform their terms of the contract for all future fundraising, a monetary judgment against the BPA to be determined at trial and to reimburse the costs of going to trial. hey are also seeking “further relief as to the court seems necessary, just and proper.
Bethlehem PBA President Scott Anson said the matter is a legal one and thing have remained civil within the department.
“There’s no animosity. We’re all professionals,” he said. “It will all get ironed out in the court systems eventually.”