I-Team: State union official’s overtime

CRANSTON, R.I.—Up until about six weeks ago, Thomas Fitzpatrick worked at the Rhode Island Training School. He was president of Local 314, the union that represents the guards at the Training School.

But payroll, time card, and worksheet records obtained by the I-Team received raised serious questions about overtime payments Fitzpatrick received on three consecutive pay periods earlier this year. In each period, Fitzpatrick was paid more than $1,900 in overtime.

Records indicated that Fitzpatrick spent most of his day shift working on union business, indicated by a “U-B” on his attendance sheet. But then, he indicated he reported for the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift and got overtime for three consecutive weeks.

But the staffing sheets show no record of Fitzpatrick actually working the shifts he said he did.

The problem is that someone in management allegedly gave Fitzpatrick the overtime shifts, circumventing the union rotation list, according to sources at the Training School.
The current Local 314 president is Jerry Minetti.

“It’s always been about doing what’s right for the members, and the union feels if management violated their contractual rights, then management should be held accountable,“ he said.

The I-Team tried on several occasions to get Fitzpatrick’s side of the story.

The union contract allows for local union presidents to work on union business, while taxpayers pay their salary. But Fitzpatrick, according to two sources, never filled out the union log book that indicates what union business he conducted.

So Rhode Island taxpayers shelled out more than $5,700 in overtime to Fitzpatrick, although his name does not appear on the staffing records and his time sheets were regularly missing.

Our sources say Fitzpatrick’s supervisor, Warren Hurlbut, approved all of the overtime.

The Carcieri administration has asked the Rhode Island State Police to investigate how Fitzpatrick got the overtime and why Hurlbut approved it.

Maj. Steven O’Donnell confirmed state police are investigating.

Patricia Martinez, head of the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families, which oversees the Training School, said she couldn’t comment on the story because of the state police investigation.