Glastonbury employee suspended for intoxicant violation
Feb. 6—GLASTONBURY — A town highway maintainer was suspended from work without pay for three days in December and January for violating rules that included the town's Controlled Substances and Alcohol Policy for Drivers.
The maintainer, Michael A. Dudzinski, was then was placed on an unpaid leave of absence until he completes "all requirements necessary to perform safety-sensitive work."
That information comes from two memorandums to Dudzinski from Daniel A. Pennington, the town engineer and manager of physical services. The Journal Inquirer obtained the memos through a routine freedom-of-information request for records of disciplinary action against town employees.
The violation of the town's policy and Department of Transportation regulations occurred Nov. 9, according to one of the memos.
Pennington said in the other memo that Dudzinski "knowingly and willfully" violated the policy. Neither memo gives further details of the incident.
One memo did say, however, that Dudzinski had been suspended without pay for seven days in April 2019 for "a prior violation of DOT regulations." Pennington didn't give further details of that incident, either.
The three days of the suspension for the Nov. 9 incident were Dec. 29 and 30 and Jan. 3. The unpaid leave of absence began the following day, Jan. 4.
Pennington told Dudzinski that he would be "expected to comply with all DOT regulations" concerning commercial drivers licenses as well as the town's policy.
Pennington also warned that "a second prohibited conduct event will result in termination from employment."
Attempts to reach Dudzinski for comment were unsuccessful.
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