January 16, 2015
By Erica Shelley Nelson and Jordan Jones
In 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.
Filed Under: Constitutional Rights
January 13, 2015
By Jim Cline and Jordan Jones
The 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.
Filed Under: Arbitration Rulings, Discipline
December 29, 2014
By Jim Cline and Jordan Jones
In Village of Shiloh, 133 LA 234 (Suardi 2013) the Arbitrator held that the Village did not violate the CBA with the Village’s police officers when it scheduled certain cover shifts not explicitly provided for in the CBA.
Filed Under: Contract Interpretation
December 29, 2014
By Jim Cline and Jordan Jones
In DeLee v. City of Plymouth, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a police officer returning from military leave was entitled to full longevity pay for his twelve years of employment under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). The Court noted that the City’s of Plymouth’s “longevity benefit is more appropriately characterized as a reward for lengthy service rather than as compensation for worked performed the preceding year” and therefore protected by USERRA.
Filed Under: USERRA
December 19, 2014
By Erica Shelley Nelson and Kasey Burton
In Williams v. Ala. Dep’t of Corr., an Alabama District Court held that an African-American correctional officer failed to prove that he was terminated on the basis of race. Even though the officer tried to show that the white officer was treated differently, the Court was not convinced the two officers were similarly situated.
Filed Under: Race Discrimination
December 19, 2014
By Jim Cline and Jordan Jones
In Dep’t of Homeland Security,133 LA 419 (Nicholas 2014) the Arbitrator, citing the memorandum of understanding, denied a Border Patrol Agent’s grievance for being placed on administrative duty, following a DWI arrest, for “too long.”
Filed Under: Discipline
December 17, 2014
By Jim Cline and Geoff Kiernan
In Dep’t of the Navy,133 LA 1469 (Halter 2014), an Arbitrator Patrick Halter held that there was just cause for the suspension of a Department of the Navy police officer who used excessive force to subdue a civilian off-base.
Filed Under: Discipline
December 17, 2014
By Erica Shelley Nelson and Jordan Jones
In Nissen v. Pierce County, the Court of Appeals of Washington, Division Two held that “because some of the private cellular phone call logs and text messages . . . [of a prosecutor that were requested by the Plaintiff] may qualify as . . . [‘public records’ under the state’s Public Records Act] the superior court erred in granting the County’s . . . motion to dismiss.” The Court stated that “call logs for a government official’s private cellular phone constitute ‘public records’ only with regard to the calls that relate to government business and only if these call logs are used or retained by the government agency.” The Court also stated “text messages sent or received by a government official constitute ‘public records’ only if the text messages relate to government business.”
Filed Under: Privacy Rights
December 12, 2014
By Erica Shelley Nelson and Kasey Burton
In Cox v. Onondaga Cnty. Sheriff’s Dep’t, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of retaliation complaints by white Deputy Sheriffs (located in the state of New York). Even though the Deputies had set forth a prima facie case of retaliation, the Sheriff’s Department was able to demonstrate non-retaliatory reasons for its actions. The Deputies were unable to rebut the Department’s non-retaliatory explanations with evidence of pretext.
Filed Under: Race Discrimination
December 5, 2014
By Jordan Jones
In Dubiak v. S. Abington Twp., the Court denied South Abington Township’s Motion to dismiss a police officer’s complaint that he was discriminated against in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) when he was not rehired following active duty with the Marine Corps.
