August 29, 2022
By Jim Cline and Stephen Hatton
In Saginaw County Sheriff's Office, a Michigan arbitrator ruled that the Saginaw County Sheriff's Office had not violated its CBA by refusing to pay a corrections deputy retroactive pay owed to the police officers in the same bargaining unit.
Filed Under: Contract Interpretation
August 4, 2021
By Jim Cline and Mark Anderson
In Frost v. City of Philadelphia, a Philadelphia court denied a trial for Plaintiff Frost’s claims that the City discriminated against him by refusing to admit him to the Fire Academy and then firing him because of his disability.
Filed Under: Disability Discrimination, Discrimination
August 4, 2021
By Jim Cline and Troy Thornton
Arbitrator Matthew M. Franckiewicz found that the Employer, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, correctly denied access to paid parental leave to Officer Randy Alexander. Allegheny Cnty., 2021 BL 159834, 2021 BNA LA 32Although the language in a new interest arbitration award allowed the leave to be taken at any point within the first 12 months of a birth, Arbitrator Frankiewicz held that the interest arbitrator’s award, which specifically ordered the new language on a nonretroactive basis, was only meant to apply to births that occurred after the award was published.
Filed Under: Arbitration Rulings, Contract Interpretation
August 2, 2021
By Jim Cline and Troy Thornton
Arbitrator Patrick Halter found that a union representing federal corrections officers in Seagoville, Texas, failed to file a timely grievance on an alleged arbitrator transfer when it believed four of its members had been transferred arbitrarily. Halter ruled in Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2020 BNA 1413 that even though the employer failed to respond to the grievance in a timely manner, a greater error was made by the Union in failing to file a grievance within the 40 days allowed in the CBA.
Filed Under: Arbitration Rulings, Contract Interpretation
August 2, 2021
By Jim Cline and Mark Anderson
In Bagby v. City of Morristown, a Tennessee court ordered a trial for Officer Bagby’s claim that the City of Morristown Police Department violated his freedom of speech by firing him in retaliation for comments he made at a City Council meeting.
Filed Under: Constitutional Rights, Discrimination, Free Speech Rights
June 16, 2021
By Jim Cline and Troy Thornton
In Merced Sheriff’s Office, 2020 BNA 1296, Arbitrator Patrick Halter upheld the termination decision of an unnamed Merced County Sheriff’s Deputy. The Deputy was fired after giving inconsistent and dishonest answers during an internal affairs interview, stemming from an on-duty sexual rendezvous reported by a passerby.
Filed Under: Arbitration Rulings
May 12, 2021
By Jim Cline and Troy Thornton
Arbitrator Kenneth J. Latsch found that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department had just cause to terminate Officer Raymond Cuevas for accessing the department database in furtherance of a romantic relationship. The termination occurred after the Department sustained “conduct unbecoming an officer” charges against Cuevas when he accessed the Department’s database to locate the address of a former romantic interests’ new boyfriend who he then confronted at the discovered address.
Filed Under: Arbitration Rulings, Contract Interpretation
May 12, 2021
By Mark Anderson and Katrina Thornton
In Levy v. Wilkie, an Illinois court of appeals ordered a trial of an African American police officer’s race discrimination lawsuit. Levy worked as a police officer at the Hines VA Hospital. The court found that inconsistent discipline practices raised a jury question on whether Levy had been subject to racial discrimination.
Filed Under: Discrimination, Race Discrimination
May 7, 2021
By Mark Anderson and Katrina Thornton
In Smith v. Cook County, an Illinois court dismissed an African American probation officer’s lawsuit claiming the County denied his request for an adjusted schedule because of his race and active participation in his labor union. The court dismissed Officer Jason Smith’s lawsuit, finding that neither Smith’s race nor his union activity was the basis for the employer’s denial of his request to adjust his schedule.
Filed Under: Discrimination
May 7, 2021
By Mark Anderson and Katrina Thornton
In Bonilla v. City of Philadelphia, a Philadelphia court denied the City of Philadelphia’s request to throw out a Christian tow truck driver’s lawsuit claiming that he had been discriminated against because of his faith. The court held the Department may have created an offensive work environment based on the driver’s religious beliefs.
