Green has Discipline Reduced

East Hampton Police Sgt. Michael Green has had his discipline reduced following a grievance hearing on Wednesday. Officer Hardie Burgin, however, was not as fortunate.

Green, the town and the union agreed the discipline issued shall be reduced from a 10-day to a five-day suspension and Green will be reimbursed for five days of base pay. All other aspects of the discipline remain unchanged. As part of the agreement, Green withdrew his grievance.

The meeting was attended by Green, Interim Town Manager John Weichsel, Police Chief Matt Reimondo, Town Labor Attorney Pat McHale, International Brotherhood of Police Officers representative Concezio DiNino, Union Attorney Douglas Hall and Union President, Local 524, Mike Salafia.

“I’m glad this is finished and for the sake of everybody involved, I thought it best to just end this now and spare myself and the town legal expenses,” Green said on Monday. “Based on the town’s willingness to negotiate, I think it was obvious to me they knew the discipline was excessive.”

Green, a 23-year member of the department, returned to work on Dec. 8 after serving his 10-day suspension for conduct unbecoming of an officer and neglect of duty and responsibility. The was handed down by Reimondo in November following an Internal Affairs investigation by Attorney Eric P. Daigle.

However, it was Green being put on paid administrative leave on July 27 pending the outcome of the investigation that created some controversy.

The previous town council questioned why Green couldn’t be working during this time, revealing in and meetings the amount he had been paid for staying home while the department was stretched thin. The council also took issue with the amount of overtime the department was spending, in part to cover for Green’s absence.

In the end, the issue cost the town thousands, including nearly four months of pay for Green while he was on paid leave, any overtime needed because he was out and the expense of having Daigle investigate.

Officer Hardie Burgin also was disciplined following an Internal Affairs investigation by Daigle. Burgin returned to work Dec. 12 after being suspended 20 days for neglect of duty and conduct unbecoming of an officer. Burgin met with Weichsel on Thursday. Weichsel, however, found ‘just cause” for Burgin’s discipline.

Burgin is expected to take his grievance to the state labor relations board.

Green and Burgin initially took their grievances to Reimondo as required. When that did not result in an agreement, step two of the process was to take the matter to the town manager.