A social services accounting clerk wants compensation for missing his lunch break on April 3 during a horrific upstate New York immigration center massacre that left 13 dead plus the gunman.
James Kauchis, a government employee of the Broome County Department of Social Services, confirmed that he filed a formal complaint last week seeking the pay, according to the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
But he wouldn't discuss it with the newspaper.
"That's a matter between me, the administration and the union," Kauchis said.
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Click here for a list of the victims.
The disgruntled accounting clerk was in his office in a nearby building when 41-year-old Jiverly Wong walked into the American Civic Association in Binghamton and opened fire with two handguns, killing 13 people and wounding four others before committing suicide.
The Department of Social Services was on lockdown for four hours to protect the 370 workers in the building, Michael Klein, director of the county's personnel department, told the paper.
Klein confirmed that Kauchis made the complaint seeking lunch-break pay.
Government officials expressed embarrassment and disappointment over the filing.
"A lot of people lost a lot more that day than just one hour," said Broome County Executive Barbara J. Fiala, adding that "99.9 percent of county employees stepped up to the plate."
Klein reportedly denied Kauchis' complaint because there was no violation of the union contract or of state labor laws.
During the four hours that social services employees were confined to their building, pizza and beverages were brought in by department bosses, commissioner Arthur Johnson told the newspaper.
Click here to read more on this story from the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
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