Former city IT worker Todd Ojala asks International Falls Council to enforce sick-leave payout; council approves payout and asks IT firm to confirm backups

Todd Ojala, a former city IT worker, told the International Falls City Council at a special meeting that the city has applied its salaried-employee sick-leave payout policy inconsistently and asked the council to order a consistent application and a date-certain payout.

Ojala said he had been told in writing by human resources that sick leave would not be paid out on separation, even though the city's salaried benefits policy states employees may cash out accumulated sick leave at retirement, up to a 180-working-day cap. "I'm here to ask for consistency, not sympathy, not drama, and not conflict," Ojala said, adding that the policy language creates "a valuable earned benefit" that should be applied uniformly. He asked the council to "direct administration and payroll to calculate and pay my accrued sick leave cash out ... and issue payment within 10 business days or another agreed upon certain date within the next month."

Chelsea, a city administrator who explained for the record why the matter was being handled in open session, apologized to Ojala and council members for the earlier delay. She said staff and the city's labor attorney had since reviewed the documents and advised that the matter was an interpretation of existing City of International Falls policy and therefore did not require a closed session. "I also want to acknowledge that delaying the topic has caused inconvenience and I sincerely apologize to Mr. Ojala and the members of the Council for that disruption and delay," Chelsea said.

Councillors questioned whether Ojala had followed up after receiving HR's written response and debated whether a resignation-versus-retirement label had been applied consistently in the past. One councilor said the policy was "vague and so unclear" in past practice; another said the record shows staff had been following the written policy as understood at the time. Council members also raised whether converting a resignation to a retirement designation on Dec. 1 created any open-meeting-law concerns; administration replied that no open-meeting-law violation occurred.

After discussion, a council member moved to pay Ojala his accrued sick leave through his effective last day; the motion was seconded. The council then voted, answering "Aye" on the record and carrying the motion unanimously. The meeting record shows the motion passed without recorded dissent.

Following that vote, Ojala reiterated an addendum: he had offered, and signed, an IT services agreement with the city at $50 per hour to assist with transition work and said he had later been limited in access (phone and key fob) while the city engaged another firm for on-site, hourly IT support. He said he had provided some unpaid help on Nov. 29 during a server outage.

Separately, councilors expressed concern about continuity of IT services and the security and preservation of city records during the transition between IT providers. One councilor moved, and another seconded, a motion directing the current IT provider to submit a letter to the council confirming that all city documentation, including email and internal servers, are backed up and that the city has access to those backups. After brief discussion about the time frame for "to date" backups and whether staff already possessed the documentation, the council again voted on the motion and it carried unanimously.

The council concluded that business related to Mr. Ojala's address had been completed and adjourned the special meeting.

What the council decided

- The council approved a motion to direct administration to process and pay Todd Ojala's accrued sick-leave cash-out consistent with the written salaried-employee policy (policy language allows cash-out at retirement up to a 180-working-day cap). The vote on that motion recorded unanimous "Aye" responses and carried.

- The council approved a separate motion directing the current IT provider to provide a letter confirming that all city documentation and servers (including email) are backed up and that the city has access to those backups. That motion also passed unanimously.

Key factual details and clarifications

- Policy language cited in the meeting states salaried employees accrue sick leave and may accumulate it up to 180 working days; cash-out is described in the policy for employees at time of retirement (language cited by Ojala during his remarks).

- Ojala said his last day of employment was Oct. 21. He asked for payment within 10 business days or another mutually agreed date.

- Ojala said he signed an IT services agreement at $50 per hour and also assisted for free during a Nov. 29 server outage; the council later engaged another firm for fuller-time, on-site IT support.

- Administration told the council it had consulted with the city's labor attorney before the open-session hearing and that the matter was an interpretation of existing policy, not a personnel contract.

The meeting record does not show any formal amendment to city policy during the session; councilors urged that the policy be clarified for future cases. The council did not identify a specific date for the requested payment in the written minutes shown at this meeting.

The council adjourned after the two votes.