Defendant is a Corrections Officer at Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, Washington County and a member of plaintiff, which has a Rainy Day Fund with the stated purpose of “provid[ing] supplemental income for qualifying members who are suspended without pay for disciplinary reasons for incidents that occur[red] while on duty.” On November 14, 2017, defendant signed and submitted a Rainy Day Fund Application and Agreement (hereinafter Agreement) to plaintiff. This Agreement states, in pertinent part: “I hereby understand that by submitting this application and signing this document, I agree that if by settlement, arbitration or other means, I am restored to the payroll for any period of time for which payment is received from the Fund, I shall reimburse to [plaintiff] the amount paid to me during my period of suspension…. “I also acknowledge that I have been provided a copy of the Rainy Day Fund [P]olicy and fully understand the terms set forth therein.” The Rainy Day Fund Policy then provides as follows: “The member must…agree that if the member is, by settlement, arbitration or other means, restored to the payroll for any period of time for which he/she received payment from the Fund, the member shall reimburse [plaintiff] the amount paid to the member during his/her period of suspension. The member must execute a signed agreement before receiving any payments, and as a condition thereof, if he/she receives his/her back pay, the member shall reimburse [plaintiff].” By Arbitrator’s Opinion and Award dated February 4, 2019, defendant received “a six (6) month disciplinary suspension without pay and accruals effective November 14, 2017 through May 14, 2018,” with the Arbitrator further finding that defendant was “to be made whole for all pay, benefits and accruals for the period following his six (6) month disciplinary suspension commencing May 15, 2018 through the date of his return to the payroll.” On March 28, 2019, Frank Gilbo — plaintiff’s treasurer — sent a letter to defendant advising as follows: “Pursuant to the Rainy Day Fund [P]olicy and the [A]greement that you signed, members who receive funds from the Rainy Day Fund and subsequently are awarded back pay are required to reimburse [plaintiff] the amount paid during the period of suspension to which back pay was awarded…. According to our calculation and based upon your back pay award, the amount to reimburse the Rainy Day Fund is $26,850[.00]. Your reimbursement check should be made payable to [plaintiff], attention Frank
