A Chicago police officer says he should be paid for being electronically handcuffed to his work via his Blackberry.
Sgt. Jeffrey Allen is suing the city for up to two years of overtime pay he says he's due for performing work on his department-issued Blackberry when he was off-duty.
Mayor Daley called the lawsuit "silliness in a time of economic crisis."
The mayor took several minutes out of a press conference Saturday to show his disdain for the lawsuit, holding up a copy of it for everyone to see at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Rutherford Sayre Playground on West Belden.
The mayor laughed and shook his head in disbelief as he read through Allen's claims.
"Just think if a teacher asked for all the over-time ... the principal, all the people here," he said. "In an economic crisis, we all have to share, we all have to come together."
Allen's federal lawsuit not only asks for overtime pay for himself, but also for other officers in a similar situation, the Sun-Times reported. Allen was part of the Gang Investigation Unit when he was assigned a Blackberry, which his lawyers claim resulted in hundreds of hours of extra work. They also claim the Blackberry was a job requirement, and anyone who didn't want one would not be assigned to work in that unit.
