Archives for April 2013

Oregon Supreme Court Upholds ERB Ruling That Broad Management Rights Clause Does Not Waive Union’s Right to Bargain over Mandatory Subjects of Bargaining

By David Worley

In Ass’n of Oregon Corrections Employees v. Oregon, 194 LRRM 3250 (Or. 2013), the Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the Oregon Employment Relations Board’s (ERB) decision, and overruled the Appeals Court, when it found that a broad management rights clause does not satisfy the burden of proof to prove that the union waived its statutorily guaranteed rights to bargain on mandatory subjects.  The Court found that the lower Court had applied the wrong standard in overturning the decision of the ERB.

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Female Officer Told That Her Husband Was Not “Taking Care of Her in Bed” Presents Valid Sexual Harassment Claim but Retaliatory Discharge Claim Dismissed

By Mitchel Wilson

The Federal 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, in Desarduoin v. City of Rochester, 117 FEP Cases 778 (2d Cir. 2013) reestablished a fired female police security officer’s sexual harassment/discrimination claim against the City of Rochester, New York under Title VII, while affirming the dismissal of her retaliation and state law claims.  The court concluded the lower court erred in granting summary judgment on the employee’s gender discrimination claim when she alleged her supervisor made unsolicited sexual advances from May to July of 2007, but correctly dismissed her retaliation and state law claims. The employer was able to defeat her retaliation claim when it showed that it acted for a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason, when it fired her for secretly recording fellow officers, a felony and violation of department policy.

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