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City councilors, union continue push for sick leave for Boston Public Library employee with cancer
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn introduced a resolution in support of a library employee with cancer at a council meeting Wednesday.
A Boston Public Library staff union is continuing its effort to get approval for a colleague with a cancer diagnosis to use extended sick leave donated by her coworkers.
Eve Griffin, the curator of fine arts for the Boston Public Library (BPL), was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in 2019. Since she used all her own sick days and leave to attend doctor’s appointments and receive treatment, she has had to rely on hours from a donated sick bank. Griffin has worked at the library for 12 years.
In November 2024, Griffin submitted an extended sick leave fund request to the Professional Staff Association (PSA), one of two staff unions at the BPL. Though the union approved the request, the BPL and the city’s Office of Labor Relations (OLR) denied it, according to a PSA petition.
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Since then, the PSA has been urging the BPL’s Board of Trustees to grant Griffin her requested sick time. After receiving pushback from the board, who declined to comment on the controversy, the union went public with their effort.
The first public move came at a Feb. 4 Board of Trustees meeting, where PSA members and other attendees delivered spoken and written comments against the board’s decision. The following day, the first official grievance filed with BPL Human Resources was denied, according to Allie Hahn, president of the PSA.
Shortly after the grievance was denied, Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn reached out to the PSA and met with Griffin and Hahn to discuss a potential resolution, according to Hahn. Flynn also sent a letter to David Leonard, president of the BPL, Hahn said.
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Flynn first formally spoke about the issue at a Feb. 12 City Council meeting, which included a point about Griffin and the BPL on the docket.
“We want to make sure that this woman is treated with respect, that she doesn’t have to worry about financial issues as she deals with a very complicated medical diagnosis,” Flynn said at the meeting. “I would encourage David Leonard to review the facts and provide a little bit of respect and dignity to this woman that has dedicated her life to the city and grant her the necessary leave so that she can continue fighting this stage 4 diagnosis.”
The day after the meeting, the PSA filed a more involved grievance with Leonard to organize a formal hearing with him, Hahn said. Through this meeting, the PSA hoped to get Griffin retroactive pay for past unpaid sick time and acquire more time from the sick bank, according to Hahn.
Previously, long-term illnesses have been covered via the sick bank without issue, Hahn said. As such, the PSA also aimed to understand why the policy changed and what parameters needed to be set to avoid denials.
At the hearing Wednesday, the language in the PSA’s sick leave contract was discussed in detail. Leonard was not present at the hearing, with a BPL Human Resources representative filling in for him to meet with union representatives and an OLR representative, according to Hahn.
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Though the result of the hearing is currently undetermined, Hahn said that the PSA made progress with its effort.
“We made some headway at addressing the root cause of this issue,” Hahn said. “We’ve been pretty transparent that we believe this really does go beyond Eve, and we want to make sure that members in the future are protected and that we’re not doing this every time someone with a chronic illness needs to use the sick bank.”
Also on Wednesday, Flynn brought forth his resolution at another City Council meeting. Councilors-at-large Erin Murphy and Julia Mejia joined Flynn on the resolution.
“This decision not only undermines the compassionate intent of the sick leave fund but also places an undue financial and emotional burden on an employee facing a life-threatening illness,” Murphy said at the meeting. “Supporting this resolution is imperative to uphold the values of empathy and solidarity within our community.”
Councilor Liz Breadon added that the council had received “dozens of calls and emails about this issue.” Councilors Tania Fernandes Anderson and Benjamin Weber also spoke in support of the resolution.
After receiving eight affirmative votes and five present votes, the docket was adopted.
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“We’re thrilled with the votes for it and it passing in City Council,” Hahn said. “It’s a real bolstering to our fight here.”
Going forward, the hearing record will remain open until March 7 for the PSA to submit further evidence, according to Hahn.
The PSA is optimistic that the verdict will be in their favor, but potential next steps if the verdict is a denial include setting up meetings with staff at Mayor Michelle Wu’s Office and continuing to consult Boston City Council, Hahn said.
The BPL has declined to speak publicly on the issue due to it being a personnel matter.
“Out of respect for the rights of the public employees who work here to confidentiality and to the privacy of their protected health information, it is our longstanding policy to not comment on personnel matters — even when those issues have entered the public domain,” the BPL said in a statement to Boston.com.
“We do wish that the library would talk more about what their reasons are, but we also understand why they can’t,” Hahn said.
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