PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- Former Fire Chief Don Horton left his job in July but remains on the city payroll under a law that protects employees' jobs while they are on leave.
Horton is being paid sick time under the Family and Medical Leave Act from July 23 to Oct. 5, according to city officials. Some City Council members said they were told Horton had resigned, and they did not know he was still being paid.
Some questioned that decision.
"It's my understanding that once someone resigns -- submits a resignation -- that's it," Councilman Bill Moody Jr. said. "They shouldn't continue on the payroll."
Mayor Kenny Wright said Horton is just being treated fairly. "If he had a family emergency and he qualified under that act, then we should always adhere to whatever the guidelines would say," Wright said.
In July, City Manager Kenneth Chandler said Horton decided to return to Richmond, his home city, because of a family medical problem. Horton started as Portsmouth chief in March 2009 following a 29-year-career in firefighting and fire service management. Chandler said then that Beck Barfield, a retired deputy fire chief, had been named interim chief.
"We got a letter of resignation," Toni Smaw-Bembry, the city's director of human resources management, said Monday.
However, she confirmed that Horton is still on the payroll.
A deputy in her office said in an email that answers to other questions "are excluded from disclosure" by state law that says release of personnel records is up to a government agency.
Chandler said in an interview Tuesday that Horton qualified for family leave.
The federal law, passed in 1993, protects an employee's job and medical benefits while the employee is on leave for up to 12 weeks for a serious health problem or the serious illness of a spouse, child or parent. It applies to public agencies and private employers with at least 50 workers.
The law does not require the employee to be paid while on leave.
Portsmouth policy allows for paid and unpaid leave to full- or part-time employees under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The policy says vacation accrues during leave.
Chandler said that although The Virginian-Pilot reported in July that he said Horton had resigned, "I said he has returned to Richmond for family medical-related issues."
Chandler added: "I think the term resignation is being thrown around to represent the date that the gentleman had a qualifying event for family medical leave, left the organization and never returned."
When asked about Smaw-Bembry's statement that Horton submitted a resignation letter, Chandler said, "I can't speak to that because you're telling me about you and Toni's conversation. I don't know what you all discussed."
Vice Mayor Charles Whitehurst said Chandler had left him with the same impression as Moody's.
"He told me that the man resigned," Whitehurst said. "If the man resigned, he's no longer employed. He's not eligible for any compensation."
At 11 weeks of his $110,985 salary, Horton is being paid $23,478. He did not respond to a request for comment left with his wife and has not made any public comment since he left.
Councilman Steve Heretick said the manager told him Horton had resigned. Heretick said that Horton had done a great job and that he is sorry to have seen him go.
Heretick said he also was not aware that Horton remains on the payroll, but the Portsmouth charter is designed to keep council members out of the personnel process.
"I hope that he was not treated any differently than any other city employee who would leave the city under similar circumstances."
Council members Paige Cherry and Curtis E. Edmonds Sr. could not be reached Wednesday. Councilwoman Marlene Randall said she could not comment because she had to go to an appointment.
Copyright 2012 - The Virginian-Pilot
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
