First Thursday

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First Thursday, March 2020 Mar 04, 2020

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This month’s cases:

Firefighters, Facial Hair, The ‘Empty Vessel’ Of Light Duty, And The ‘Driving Calculus of Bureaucracy,’ Bey v. City of New York, 2020 WL 467507 (E.D.N.Y. 2020).
Promise Of No Discipline? No Weingarten Rights, Fraternal Order of Transit Police, 51 PPER ¶ 51 (Penn. LRB ALJ 2020)
Another Officer Loses A Brady Lawsuit Against A Prosecutor, Latty v. Polk County Sheriff’s Office, 2020 WL 485526 (D. Ore. 2020).
Union Lawyer Not Liable To Member For Malpractice Claim, Zander v. Carlson, 2019 IL App (1st) 181868 (Ill. App. 2019)
Prison Prep Time Compensable Under FLSA, Aguilar v. Management and Training Corp., 2020 WL 547292 (10th Cir. 2020) (Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk)
No ‘Error Too Obvious To Be Unintentional’ On The ‘Money Train,’ Washington v. Washington Metro. Area Transit Authority, 2019 WL 6907797 (D.C. Cir. 2019)

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First Thursday, February 2020 Feb 05, 2020

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Developments with the Plain View Project

First Lawsuit Against Plain View Project Is Dismissed, Pace v. Baker-White, 2020 WL 134316 (E.D. Pa. 2020)

Firefighter Fired For Refusing Vaccination, Accommodation, Horvath v. City of Leander, 2020 WL 104345 (5th Cir. 2020).

County Required To Arbitrate ‘Me-Too’ Grievance, County of Rockland, 2019 WL 6720466 (N.Y.A.D. 2019).

Romantic Relationships And Sexual Discrimination, Word v. City of Chicago, 2020 WL 57642 (7th Cir. 2020)

Requiring Pregnant Officer To Use Up Leave Violates Discrimination Law, Delanoy v. Township of Ocean, 2020 WL 38861 (N.J.A.D. 2020)

Officer’s Firing For Facebook Posts Upheld, Venable v. Metropolitan Gov’t of Nashville and Davidson County, 2019 WL 7020353 (M.D. Tenn. 2019).

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First Thursday, January 2020 Jan 02, 2020

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Will Aitchison discusses the fallout from a photo of Detroit firefighters posing in front of a burned house and the dangers of social media posting for public safety employees.

‘No-Contact’ Order Ruled Illegal, Oakdale Police Officers Association v. City of Oakdale, 44 PERC ¶ 99 (Cal. PERB ALJ 2019)

The NLRB Approves Greater Confidentiality in Workplace Investigations

The Department of Labor Issues New Rules On Calculating The Regular Rate of Pay

Employer Required To Bargain Over Many Lexipol Policies, Snohomish County Corrections Guild, 2019 WL 6271824 (Wash. PERC ALJ 2019).

The Standard For A Fitness For Duty Evaluation, Gipson v. Tawas Police Authority, 2019 WL 6876619 (6^th Cir. 2019) (Related case)

County Required To Arbitrate ‘Me-Too’ Grievance, County of Rockland, 2019 WL 6720466 (N.Y.A.D. 2019)

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First Thursday, December 2019 Dec 04, 2019

Show notes

This month’s cases:

Employer May Not Unilaterally Impose Waiver Of Right To Bargain, Gator Lodge Number 67, FOP v. City of Gainesville, 46 FPER ¶ 169 (Fla. PERC 2019).
Not Improper ‘Direct Dealing’ For Negotiators To Have Sidebar Discussion, Jamison v. East Lake Tarpon Special Fire Control District, 46 FPER ¶ 153 (Fla. PERC Gen. Coun. 2019)
Firefighter Staffing Per Shift Negotiable, City of Everett v. PERC, 2019 WL 5541502 (Wash. App. 2019).
Pre-Statement Video Review Is A Negotiable Topic, Fraternal Order of Police v. City of Pittsburgh, Case No. PF-C-18-27-W (Pa. LRB ALJ 2019)
Arbitration Panel Rules In Favor Of Pre-Statement Review Of Video, City of Newton, JLMC 17-6002 (McSpiritt, 2019)

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First Thursday, November 2019 Nov 07, 2019

Show notes

This month, Will covers three recent news stories and four cases.

News articles:

Alaska State Troopers find fix for hiring woes: More pay https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2019/11/07/pay-hikes-drive-surge-of-job-seekers-to-alaska-state-troopers/

Hennepin County Attorney’s Office on New Protocol: ‘No Privacy Rights in a Criminal Investigation’
https://alphanewsmn.com/hennepin-county-attorneys-office-on-new-protocol-no-privacy-rights-in-a-criminal-investigation/

Nevada Highway Patrol Association becomes the third group of state employees to unionize
https://www.rgj.com/story/news/politics/2019/10/18/nhp-troopers-join-push-unionize-under-new-law/4022638002/

Cases:

‘Witness’ Officer Entitled To Weingarten Representative, Bardelas v. City of Doral, 46 FPER ¶ 91 (Fla. PERC 2019).

Corrections Officers Win $113 Million In Wage-And-Hour Lawsuit, Hootselle v. Missouri Dept. of Corrections, 2019 WL 4935933 (Mo. App. 2019).
(Referenced case: Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/13-433_5h26.pdf)

Favored Treatment To Fellow Officer Violates Ethics Statute, McGovern v. State Ethics Commission, 2019 WL 5078447 (Mass. App. 2019).

Termination For Theft ‘Shocks Conscience” Of Court, Matter of Arroyo v O’Neill, 2019 NY Slip Op 06568 (A.D. 2019).

First Thursday, October 2019 Oct 02, 2019

Show notes

Will discusses a recently released study from the Police Executive Research Forum study on the recruitment and retention crisis.

Staying on this topic, Will talks about an article from the Omaha World-Herald on the workforce shortages in public employment in the state of Nebraska.

Cases covered this month:

When Is Harassing Conduct ‘Severe’ Enough? Perry v. Slensby, 2019 WL 3409894 (S.D.N.Y. 2019)

Sergeant’s $1.9 Million Verdict Reduced To $2,700, Holt v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 2019 WL 3021798 (3rd Cir. 2019)

Sheriff’s Department Can Provide Brady List To Prosecutor, Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs v. Superior Court, 2019 WL 4009133 (Cal. 2019)

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First Thursday, September 2019 Sep 04, 2019

Show notes

Update: The fallout from the Plain View Project. The Plain View Project is run by a Philadelphia attorney who seeks to reveal the identity of law enforcement officers in eight jurisdictions who post what the attorney deems as sexist, racist or other unsuitable messages on Facebook.

Cases:

Employer Must Provide Information Before, Not After, Loudermill Hearing, Town of Auburn, 2019 WL 3574289 (MA LRC ALJ 2019)

Personality Traits Not Protected By ADA, Donley v. Village of Yorkville, 2019 WL 3817054 (N.D.N.Y. 2019)

Trooper’s Garrity Rights Violated, State of Nebraska v. Kober, 2019 WL 3215942 (Neb. App. 2019)

In Some Parts Of The Country, Patronage Is Still Legal, Jones v. Lamkin, 2019 WL 3183635 (11th Cir. 2019)

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Interview with Tenari Ma’afala and Vladimir Devens of SHOPO Aug 29, 2019

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Will interviews Tenari Ma’afala and Vladimir Devens of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO) about the state’s unusual collective bargaining law, how they fixed their recruitment and retention problem, arbitration stories, and the standard of conduct differential. LISTEN

First Thursday, August 2019 Jul 31, 2019

Show notes

Will gives (yet another) warning about potential dangers posed by social media for public safety employees. He gives several recent examples of law enforcement, corrections and fire protection employees who have lost their jobs over controversial social media posts.

Cases covered this month:

‘Exploding’ Offers Can Be Bad-Faith Bargaining, City of Arcadia (2019) PERB Decision No. 2648-M (Cal. PERB 2019).

No Privacy Rights To Flash Drive Plugged Into Employer’s Computer, Edwards v. State of Florida, 2019 WL 2607376 (Fla. App. 2019).

Not Against Public Policy To Reinstate Dishonest Corrections Officer, Monroe County Correctional Facility v. Teamsters Local 773, 2019 WL 2587689 (Penn. Cmwlth. 2019).

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First Thursday, July 2019 Jul 02, 2019

Show notes

Will gives another, very necessary, warning about posting on supposedly private social media forums. He also discusses these cases:

Deputy Cannot Sue Prosecutor For Wrongful Placement On Brady List, Harris v. Chelan County Sheriff’s Department, 2019 WL 1923924 (E.D. Wa. 2019).
Seniority Prevails Over ADA For Day Off Selection, McIntyre v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 2019 WL 2120324 (D.D.C. 2019).
The ADA And Light Duty Jobs, Garvey v. Sullivan, 2019 WL 2142530 (2nd Cir. 2019).
Destruction Of Disciplinary Records Violates Public Policy, City of Chicago v. Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 7, 2019 WL 2052887 (Ill. App. 2019).
Iowa Collective Bargaining Cuts Upheld By Court, AFSCME Iowa Council 61 v. State of Iowa, 2019 WL 2147339 (Iowa 2019).

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