By Jim Cline and Peter Haller
In Andrade v City of Milwaukee, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruled that a police officer fired for making racist comments on Facebook was not entitled to getting his job back because of an alleged pre-termination due process violation. The Court reasoned that the officer was entitled to notice of the charges against him, but not to all the information related to factors involved in determining the level of discipline imposed.
By: Jim Cline and Geoff Kiernan
In Town of Stratford (Connecticut), the City attempted to vacate an arbitration decision that had reinstated a police officer who was discharged for lying to an independent neurologist by withholding medical information about his seizures and alcohol abuse. The City argued that the police officer must be fired because there is a public policy against intentional dishonesty in connection with police employment. The Court agreed that while there was a public policy against intentional policy officer dishonesty in connection with employment, the dishonesty at issue here was not so extreme as to make the arbitrator’s award a violation of public policy.
By Anthony Rice
In Spokane Valley Fire Dep’t, Arbitrator Guy Coss dismissed a Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD) employee’s grievance as not arbitrable, because he exhausted his remedy by first appealing to the Civil Service Commission.
By Anthony Rice
In City of West Palm Beach, the arbitrator held the grievance was not arbitrable, because the captain (grievant) was outside the bargaining unit and the CBA contained no language concerning grieving a captain’s demotion.
By Emily Nelson
In Mariano v. Borough of Dickson City, a Pennsylvania Federal District Court held that the City was not entitled to dismissal of a terminated police officer’s claim that his right to due process was violated when he was fired shortly after filing grievances.
By David Worley
In Dooley v. City of Bridgeport, 34 IER Cases 1507 (S.D. Ill. 2013), the court denied motions to dismiss the due process claims of Officer Dooley, an Illinois police officer who was terminated following an arrest for illegally selling a firearm. The charge turned out to be baseless, and Dooley challenged his termination on due process grounds and a number of state statutes. The court found that as Dooley had a well defined property interest in his employment and no sufficient inquiry had indicated termination was actually proper, his claims could survive a motion to dismiss.
By Kate Acheson
In Rogers v. Georgia Dep’t of Corr., a federal district court in Georgia considered whether an internal investigator’s threat of termination and presentation of a pre-written resignation letter is sufficient to show that a resignation was coerced. The court found that, although the knowledge of impending discipline alone is not enough to make a resignation involuntary, the threat and pre-written letter was enough evidence to possibly persuade a jury that the employee’s termination was not voluntary.
By Kate Acheson
An arbitrator reduced a 24-year veteran firefighter’s termination for use, despite a previous last chance agreement arising from previous cocaine use in City of Cleveland, 130 LA 1077 (Cohen 2012). Arbitrator Hyman Cohen cited the City’s improper application of the last chance agreement and mitigating factors concerning the recent marijuana use to justify his reinstatement order.
