Archives for January 2015

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Granted Summary Judgment to an Employer for a Police Dispatcher’s FMLA Interference Claim

By Erica Shelley Nelson and Jordan L. Jones

back to workIn Mendel v. City of Gibraltar, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan granted summary judgment to the City of Gibraltar for a police dispatcher’s Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) interference claim. The Plaintiff alleged that he was illegally terminated while on statutory leave. The Court held that the Plaintiff would not have been able to return to work after exhausting his 12 weeks of FMLA leave and therefore he did not have a valid FMLA interference claim.

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Arbitrator Held That There Was Not Just Cause To Discharge An Illinois Police Officer Based On Two Conflicting Psychological Reports

By Jim Cline and Jordan L. Jones

fit for dutyIn City of Rockford, 133 LA 572 (Simon, 2012) and City of Rockford, 133 LA 587 (Simon, 2013), the Arbitrator denied the police union’s grievance alleging a procedural violation of the CBA, but held that the City did not have just cause to terminate a ten-year veteran police officer based on two conflicting psychological fitness for duty reports.

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A U.S. District Court In Florida Denies An Employer’s Summary Judgment Motion In Part As To A Former Paramedic’s First Amendment Retaliation Claim

By Erica Shelley Nelson and Jordan L. Jones

EMT FLIn Holbrook v. Lee Cnty., a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida denied in part the employer, Lee County’s summary judgment motion against a former paramedic’s First Amendment retaliation claim for speaking out about the Employer’s Medicare and Medicaid billing practices.

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Memphis Police Officer is Reinstated After Being Discharged for “Inciting Officers to Strike”

By Jim Cline and Jordan L. Jones

MPDbadgeThe Arbitrator held in City of Memphis, 133 LA 612 (Skulina 2014) that a police officer’s discharge for “inciting officers to strike” should be reduced to a 10-day suspension since the discussion with another officer was about a past and not a current strike.

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