March 26, 2001 
Directors of Human Resources To: 
Joyce Villa From: 
Employee Relations Update Subject: 
Topics covered: M/C Vacation Exchange for 2001 
Morrisville Grant Approval 
Supreme Court Ruling on ADA 
M/C Vacation Exchange for 2001 
We have been advised that the Division of Budget has tentatively 
approved the extension of the vacation exchange program for managerial/ 
confidential employees for 2001. This notice is being provided early so that, 
assuming the program is finally extended, employees will have adequate time to 
make the election. M/C employees who have accumulated 35 or more days of 
vacation accruals are eligible to exchange up to 5 days of accruals during the 
eligibility period. Compensation received in exchange for vacation days is not 
part of base annual salary and is not considered in computing retirement benefits. 
For employees on the administrative payroll, the eligibility period runs 
from April 1 - July 4, 2001, and payment will be made during the first week of 
December 2001. Any eligible employee who has elected the benefit but who 
leaves State service before the payment date would be paid at the salary in effect 
when he or she leaves. A form is attached for employees to use in making the 
election. Please disseminate notice of the availability of this program along with 
a form to all eligible employees. 
We will confirm the approval as soon as it is made final. 
GSEU Agreement Ratifies 
On Saturday, March 17, 2001 the Graduate Student Employees Union 
completed its vote count for ratification of the recently negotiated collective 
bargaining Agreement for 1999-2003. The Agreement received overwhelming
approval and we expect that the parties will meet to execute the new Agreement 
within the next few weeks. We are currently in the process of scheduling a 
detailed briefing on the new provisions for campus representatives. 
Thanks go to Ray Haines and Liesl Zwicklbauer from this office and 
Myron Thompson, Associate Provost and Executive Director of Graduate School 
at the University at Buffalo, for their efforts in briefing this Agreement to closure. 
Supreme Court Ruling Limits ADA Enforcement 
The Supreme Court of the United States has issued an important decision 
for public employers concerning enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities 
Act of 1990. The Court has held that States cannot be sued in federal court for 
money damages under the portion of the Act related to employment. 
The case was brought by two plaintiffs. The first, a nursing director at the 
University of Alabama Hospital who had been diagnosed with cancer, went 
through an extensive treatment regimen which caused frequent absences from 
work. She was demoted to a lower paying non-supervisory position and sought to 
recover damages. The second plaintiff was a security officer employed by a State 
agency. He had asthma and sleep apnea, and sought reassignment to the day shift. 
After the request was denied and the employee filed a discrimination complaint, 
he noticed that his performance evaluations were lower than previously, and sued 
for damages. 
The Supreme Court based its conclusion on the guarantee of the Eleventh 
Amendment that unconsenting States may not be sued for damages by private 
individuals in federal courts. The Court found that Congress had assembled only 
minimal evidence of unconstitutional State discrimination against the disabled 
and could not therefore sustain its attempted abrogation of the Eleventh 
Amendment. In addition, the Court found that the obligations to accommodate 
employees enacted by Congress exceed constitutional bounds. 
This decision does not relieve the States of the responsibility to comply 
with the ADA. The Court expressly noted that the standards of the ADA may be 
enforced against the States either by individuals who seek an injunction or by the 
United States, which may act to recover damages on behalf of allegedly injured 
parties. It is also important to keep in mind that New York has enacted its own 
comprehensive statutes prohibiting discrimination against the disabled. Section 
504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act also prohibits discrimination against people 
with disabilities by recipients of federal grants or contracts. The status is this law 
may be affected by subsequent litigation. 
If you would like copies of the decision, please contact Lynne Scheilding 
at (518) 443-5684, or via e-mail: scheilla@sysadm.suny.edu.
Morrisville Grant Approval 
At its recent meeting, the State/UUP Joint Labor-Management Committee 
on Technology approved a $25,000 campus grant application submitted by the 
Morrisville campus. The grant will fund a series of instructional modules on 
emerging technologies and their applications in the classroom. Funding will also 
support a center for initiatives emphasizing wireless technology. The grant will 
assist the campus to be among the first to adapt innovative uses of wireless 
technology to an educational setting. 
A critical part of the grant includes outreach to other SUNY campuses at 
the conclusion of the grant to share useful applications identified as part of the 
project. 
Attachments 
c: Chancellor King 
Mr. Miller 
Presidents, State-operated Campuses 
Business Officers