Sept. 10, 2007 — Daryl Brewster may come back into the government fold with a new position after suing over his dismissal from the position of special assistant to the director of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
A hearing Monday in U.S. District Court on St. Croix was continued for two weeks to Sept. 24 while the government hammers out a proposal. Brewster, who performed vehicle inspections at the BMV, was dismissed from his unclassified, exempt position as special assistant to Director Jerris T. Browne shortly after John deJongh Jr. became governor.
Attorney Lee Rohn filed the suit on Brewster’s behalf June 11, alleging the dismissal was improper and asking that Brewster get assigned a different government job. Brewster’s dismissal was improper because the type of work being done — vehicle inspection — is by its nature classified and not political, Rohn said. While the title may be that of a political appointee, serving at the pleasure of the bureau director and the governor, the title did not accurately apply to Brewster’s job, she said.
“The law stipulates that it is the type of work actually being done, not the title, that determines whether the position is classified or exempt,” Rohn said.
The suit also claims Brewster was dismissed for his political views, violating his First and 14th Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution.
“The case is premised upon a deprivation of civil rights for firing based upon the client’s political affiliation,” Rohn said. “During the campaign, the director of motor vehicles made my client sell advertising and campaign for deJongh. My client, who supported (Adlah) Donastorg, complained, and Browne stopped dealing with him.”
Then-candidate deJongh was not in government and had no authority over Browne or Brewster at the time of the alleged actions.
“This is the first I’ve heard of this new allegation,” said Assistant Attorney General Carol Thomas-Jacobs, when asked about the charge that Brewster was asked to do campaign work. “But the job is exempt. A special assistant under the V.I. code is an exempt position, a person in a confidential relationship with the commissioner. You can’t voluntarily take the higher pay of an exempt position, then say you want the protections of a classified position.”
The government’s filing in response to the suit makes that position more forcefully: “The plaintiff was a non-classified, exempt, at will, policy maker or confidential employee of the government of the Virgin Islands, and as such … could be terminated without notice and … without cause. As a policy maker, political affiliation is a legitimate employment criterion.”
Asked about Rohn’s contention that the type of work made the position a classified one, regardless of title, Thomas-Jacobs said the title, along with the higher pay, made the job an exempt one, regardless of what Brewster did on a day-to-day basis.
While the dismissal was proper, the government would like to see Brewster find a suitable position, Thomas-Jacobs said.
“We have a couple positions that are possibilities,” she said. “But we need to speak with the agencies and the people involved, and see what we can work out.”
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