Man wants court to review his termination from CUC

Zaji O. Zajradhara has asked the Superior Court to review his termination from the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s last year based on allegations that he tried to give an off-duty female police officer marijuana while using a CUC vehicle.

In a complaint he filed without a lawyer, Zajradhara asked the court to reverse CUC’s decision to terminate him and to direct CUC to reinstate him and give his back pay.

Zajradhara claims CUC terminated him from his job in retaliation for complaining that CUC’s management was violating the law.

He alleged that, on Oct. 8, 2014, CUC suspended him without pay and issued a proposed corrective action stating it was going to terminate his employment. He said it was alleged that while on company time, he attempted to give marijuana to an off-duty police officer. He was officially terminated on Oct. 24, 2014.

Zajradhara appealed to CUC’s Personnel Committee. A hearing was held in June 2015. On Oct. 9, 2015, CUC’s Personnel Committee issued a decision affirming Zajradahara’s termination.

Zajradahara said that CUC’s decision was arbitrary, an abuse of discretion, not in accordance with law, and was contrary to his constitutional rights and privileges.

He said his due process rights were violated because the basis of his termination was different from what was stated in the corrective action.

Zajradhara said CUC’s Personnel Committee found the officer not credible, and credited his statements that he stopped by the Laundromat just to give the officer his phone number.

However, he said, the Personnel Committee affirmed the final corrective plan on the basis that he, during work time and using CUC’s vehicle, stopped by the Laundromat for social reasons.

Zajradhara said that spending minutes of his work time for social reasons does not deserve a disciplinary sanction so severe as termination.

A copy of CUC Personnel Committee’s order showed that Zajradhara had been employed by CUC since May 2013 and that over the course of the next 13 months, he was reprimanded by CUC on numerous occasions for various instances of misconduct.

Among the misconducts cited were smoking inside the CUC power plant in violation of policy; indirectly using a CUC printer to print a 70-page marijuana catalog; and testing positive for use of illegal substance.

The Personnel Committee ruled that in light of Zajradhara’s conduct, both prior to and on Sept. 30, 2014, then-CUC executive director Alan Fletcher was justified in terminating Zajradhara’s employment.

Zajradhara also filed a lawsuit against CUC and Fletcher and several others in federal court for his termination.