September 24, 2018 By

Volunteer Firefighter has Triable First Amendment Claim for His Termination following Workplace Complaints

By: Loyd Willaford Matt Baker

In Frakes v. Elba-Salem Fire Protection District, a volunteer firefighter alleged he had been unlawfully terminated after complaining about perceived violations by the Fire District. He argues that his firing was retaliation for complaints about unlawful behavior, and therefore that his First Amendment right to free speech was violated. The United States Federal Court for the Central District of Illinois found that some of his claims had merit and moved for a jury trial.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Free Speech Rights
September 24, 2018 By

Inflammatory Political Bumper Sticker on Detention Officer’s Car Not Covered by First Amendment

By: Loyd Willaford and Matt Baker

In Williams v. McKee, a detention officer at a jail was terminated because he continuously displayed an offensive bumper sticker on his truck. The Sheriff in charge of the facility repeatedly warned him to take down or cover up the sticker, but these warnings went largely unheeded. After his termination, the detention officer brought a lawsuit alleging that his First Amendment rights had been violated. The Tenth Circuit Court affirmed the lower court’s motion to dismiss the suit.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Free Speech Rights
September 14, 2018 By

Fire Chief Who Spoke Out on Bigotry in Department has Triable Claim for First Amendment Violation and Violation of Anti-Discrimination Laws

By: Loyd Willaford and  Matt Baker

In Way v. Shawnee Township, a firefighter was demoted and then discharged after complaining of a culture of bigotry and racism in the Fire Department. The firefighter first notified the Fire Chief of the problems in the Department, and was told to drop the issue. However, the problems persisted, and the firefighter continued to complain until he was fired. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denied the Township’s motion to dismiss.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Constitutional Rights, Free Speech Rights
January 23, 2018 By

Trial and Arbitration Plenty of Due Process for Acquitted Police Officers

By: Loyd Willaford and Matt Baker

In Otto v. Williams, plaintiffs were seven police officers who were accused of conspiracy, fired, and later acquitted. A labor arbitrator reinstated them with back pay after their acquittal. Despite this, the officers brought a lawsuit against the City and the Police Department, arguing that their procedural due process had been violated because they had a property interest in their reputations, and that interest had been violated without due process. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed their claims.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Constitutional Rights
January 23, 2018 By

Fire Chief can bring Free Speech and Whistleblower Claims Against City of Nampa

By: Loyd Willaford and Matt Baker

In Strosnider v. City of Nampa, an assistant fire chief claimed that he was discharged from his job in retaliation for exercising rights under the First Amendment and Idaho whistleblower law. The assistant fire chief notified two apartment building managers of the need to renovate their buildings, despite the misgivings of the Mayor of Nampa. After issuing the warnings, the assistant fire chief was terminated.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Free Speech Rights
May 31, 2017 By

Sixth Circuit Finds Michigan Police Chief That Deleted Entire Contents of Former Employee’s Laptop Did Not Commit an Illegal Search and Seizure

By: Erica Shelley Nelson and Sarah Burke

In Lange v. McGinnis, a Michigan police captain deleted all the files on a former employee’s hard drive before returning it to him. The employee sued the city and the captain alleging an illegal search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment. The Sixth Circuit held that the police captain was protected from the suit under qualified immunity because nothing indicated his actions were impermissible. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Constitutional Rights, Legal Rights, Privacy Rights
May 15, 2017 By

Federal Judge Rules that Denial of Position with Prospective Law Enforcement Employer Because of Applicant’s Union Activities May Violate First Amendment

By: Jim Cline and Geoff Kiernan

In Walter v. City of St. Peters, a Federal Court Judge in Missouri ruled that a police offer stated sufficiently plausible facts to survive a motion to dismiss his claim that the City, and the individual supervisors within the city, violated his First Amendment rights, when they refused to hire the officer as park ranger, as part of an unofficial policy of retaliating against workers for union activity.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Discrimination, Free Speech Rights
March 9, 2017 By

Probationary Firefighter Trainees Were Entitled To Post-Termination Name-Clearing Hearing Over Claims Of Cheating

By: Erica Shelley Nelson and Sarah Burke

In Cortez-Debonar v. Fretwell, two former firefighter trainees sued the city of Las Vegas after they were terminated from the firefighter academy following allegations of cheating. The district court held that the trainees could pursue both their due process and breach of contract claims.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Constitutional Rights
March 9, 2017 By

Arizona Supreme Court Finds Union Release Time Legal Under State Constitution

By: Erica Shelley Nelson and Sarah Burke

In Cheatham v. DiCiccio, a majority of the Arizona Supreme Court found that union release time was not illegal under the state constitution’s Gift Clause.

Ninety percent of police officers in Phoenix belong to a police union. Like most collective bargaining agreements, under the Phoenix police union’s collective bargaining agreement, officers are excused from usual police duties, but are still paid by the city, while they perform union activities and conduct union business.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Association Rights
February 15, 2017 By

New Jersey Officers Retaliatory Transfer Charge Following Quota Complaints Fail When Court Finds Poor Performance, Not Complaints, Led to Transfer

By: Jim Cline & Harrison Owens

In Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 1, et al. v. City of Camden, et al., a New Jersey District Court dismissed several officers’ claims that they had been retaliated against, and one officer’s claim that his FMLA rights had been denied by the City. In their complaint, the officers claimed that several defendants had retaliated against them or interfered with their FMLA rights after they spoke out against a “directed patrol” policy. The District Court dismissed all of their claims because the officers failed to show that their poor performance under the policy was not the primary reason for their transfers. The Court also found that there was no evidence that the defendants denied one of the officers his rights under the FMLA or harmed him.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Disability Discrimination, Free Speech Rights
« Previous Page
Next Page »