WHEN SUPERS BECOME DISABLED, P.2

 

Peter Grech, vice president and director of educational services for the Superintendents Technical Association and a super himself for 31 years, suggests a good rule of thumb is to offer "six months' severance pay. That usually satisfies everybody. It's not written in stone, and I can't speak for the union, but that's usually the figure that keeps things from ending up in arbitration" – the next step should the union and the building reach an impasse. "Remember also," he cautions, "that with everything you do in a case like this, the other employees will be watching, and that may or may not affect morale."

In any event, that process ended amicably, according to building representatives. Once the settlement was made final and the super's apartment vacated, the co-op sought and hired another full-time super.

Emotional Situations

Things didn't go as smoothly at 200 East 16th Street in 2004. "The building [residents were] very divided," says the building's managing agent, Ellen Kornfeld of the Lovett Group of Real Estate Companies. The 70-plus-year-old super's mental health had apparently begun to deteriorate. "We knew he had a problem," says the board's attorney, Samson, "partly because when they took a deposition concerning [an unrelated] slip-and-fall case, he couldn't remember visiting the basement where he lived and where his office was."

Because the super and his wife, who was one of the door staff, had been in the building since 1972, "there were loyalties in the building despite the obvious circumstances," says Samson. "[Situations like this] can become a political football."

And this one did. "People felt emotionally obligated to provide a job for him," says Kornfeld, who describes the super becoming progressively defensive, argumentative and forgetful. Because of his apparent dementia, "he never worked, he was always in his apartment, he was abusive to the staff, he was completely unprofessional in his appearance and presentation," she says. "We'd send a plumber to the building, alert the super ahead of time, and then the super would send him away, saying that he was too busy to deal with them, and we'd be charged for a plumber's visit." But the residents loved the super's wife, who had picked up some of the slack but couldn't do it all, "and they were willing to accept a non-working super, since they knew she would leave if he were let go and she'd have to commute."

In such situations, both the board and the managing agent need to steel themselves for the good of the building. That's not just a matter of practicality, but of law: a corporation has a fiduciary responsibility to maintain its prime asset.

"I made a decision he had to go," says Kornfeld. "I had a problem convincing the new board and many of the longtime residents that this was the right decision, and that I could to do it without being malicious. We encouraged the super to retire. Although he was in his mid- to late 70s, there's no retirement-age requirement in the union." When the super resisted, "the way we handled it was to micromanage and document everything. 'We want this done, this done…' – and it wasn't getting done." In the end, Kornfeld remembers, "about nine other people on the staff were all relieved. They came to me afterward and thanked me."

Modifying Emergency Procedures

In cases where the disability does not, in fact, preclude a super performing his or her essential duties, make sure to modify the building's emergency evacuation procedures in consultation with the disabled party. The rest of the staff should then be brought up to date on what assistance they may need to give in order to help a disabled colleague exit safely in an emergency. A federal tax credit may be available to help make accommodations comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Aside from any legal obligation, there is a moral debt — both to the disabled individual and to the families whose housing the co-op or condo provides.

"Sometimes, people don't realize the gravity of the situation," says Donuk. "It's not an easy, black-and-white thing." One thing is certain, adds Samson: "You don't compromise the safety of a building because someone is disabled."

 

Adapted from Habitat June 2007. For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>