Lansford’s former police chief appealed a Carbon County judge’s decision denying his petition for review of an arbitrator’s award seeking a higher pension calculation.

The appeal to Commonwealth Court states the county court erred in its determination, outlining multiple areas reviewed by Carbon County President Judge Roger N. Nanovic in April.

The statement errors and related court paperwork was filed last week.

Nanovic in his May 1 decision had concluded that former Lansford police Chief Jack Soberick, now a councilman in the borough, had no right to the additional benefit he sought.

The court was also unable to change the arbitrator’s award if a mistake of law or fact occurred under the rules to review binding arbitration the judge wrote in his decision.

The matter stems from a grievance filed by Soberick three months after his retirement as borough police chief in May 2022. He sought unused sick, compensatory, vacation and personal time, as well as the higher pension calculation.

An arbitration award a year ago granted Soberick the various time in dispute but agreed with the borough’s calculation of his pension at $2,759 a month, which was calculated without overtime.

Soberick then sought a review of the award in Carbon County Court seeking the higher pension calculation with overtime, which he estimated at an additional $550 a month.

Nanovic concluded that Soberick was only entitled to additional benefits provided to full-time police officers, and the police department had not been provided the additional benefit that Soberick sought.

Soberick’s contract, which was separate from the borough contract with the police union, had a “me too” clause, which stated that he was entitled to any benefit that full-time officers received.

The borough never amended its pension ordinance to include overtime pay in determining a monthly pension benefit for its police department.

“Soberick has no right to an unrealized amendment of the borough’s pension ordinance required in a contract to which he is not a party, the benefits of which have yet to be provided to the other members of the police department,” Judge Nanovic wrote in May.

The appeal states the judge erred in determining that Soberick was not a third-party beneficiary of the borough’s police contract and that the reviewing court cannot address the merits for an error of law or fact.

Also, the court erred in determining that the grievance arbitrator’s award represents a reasonable interpretation of Soberick’s contract and union contract pursuant to the essence test, the appeal states.

The court also erred in determining that Soberick did not sustain a diminishment in pension benefits and that there was no impairment of the former chief’s constitutional rights, the appeal states.

Further, the court erred when the court failed to determine that the grievance arbitrator exceeded his authority by diminishing Soberick’s pension benefits when he failed to order the borough to provide pension benefits, including overtime when calculating 50% of his last 36-month average salary, the appeal states.

Finally, the appeal states that the court failed to determine that the grievance arbitrator deprived Soberick of his constitutional rights by failing to sustain the grievance and order the higher pension calculation.