Public works manager pleads guilty to DUI

Friday, June 12, 2009
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Half an hour after he was told of the DUI, Mr. Costa showed a reporter a just-delivered letter from Mr. Barley reporting the incident and guilty plea.

Mr. Costa said there is no formal policy regarding DUIs by nonunion employees like Mr. Barley. He said workers must have driver's licenses, even if they don't operate city vehicles.

If union workers report a license suspension to their bosses, they can be demoted to non-driving jobs, with pay cuts, for as long as a year while they try to regain driving privileges.

If a union employee fails to promptly report a license suspension, he or she can be suspended from work for several days. If that employee must have a commercial driver's license to do their job, or if they are caught driving a city vehicle with a suspended license, they can be fired, according to a representative of the public works employees' unions.

The case comes as the department faces a court fight that hinges in part on how it disciplines employees facing non-job-related criminal charges.

Former heavy equipment operator Paul Grguras sued the city in March, protesting his 2007 firing. Ostensibly for failing to disclose youthful felonies on his job application, that firing came shortly after police arrested Mr. Grguras for alleged illegal possession of firearms and receiving stolen inspection stickers.

The criminal charges were all withdrawn or dismissed, but Mr. Grguras, 49, of Brighton Heights, was not rehired. His Common Pleas Court lawsuit alleges that the city has given

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