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.

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Filed Under: Association Rights
March 24, 2015 by

Chief Who was Fired after his Wife Ran for Mayor and Lost May Sue for Freedom of Association Infringement

By Mitchell Riese and Mitchel Wilson

private v publicIn motions before the trial court to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, in Allred v. City of Carbon Hill, denied the motions and permitted Allred’s claims to go to trial.

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Filed Under: Association Rights
November 29, 2012 by

Officer Claiming “Anti-Union Animus” Was Terminated for Misconduct, Not Union Ties, Colorado District Court Finds

By Kate Acheson

A police officer’s claim, that his discharge was due to “anti-union animus,” in violation of his freedom of association, was recently dismissed by Colorado District Court in Cillo v. City of Greenwood Village.  The Court found that the discharge was properly motivated by the officer’s misconduct, which violated a suspect’s constitutional rights and department policy, not by any anti-union animus.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Association Rights, Constitutional Rights, Legal Rights
September 19, 2012 by

California District Court Denies Most of City’s Motion to Dismiss: City Failed to Follow Own Rules and Regulations

By Kate Acheson

In Hanford Exec. Mgmt. Employees Ass’n v. City of Hanford the court held that an employee Association could pursue its claims that its members faced unlawful discrimination in retaliation for a Vote of No Confidence against the City Manager.  The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California has ruled that an Association’s retaliation claim stated a potential basis for finding several constitutional violations and rejected the City’s efforts to dismiss the lawsuit for “failure to state a claim.”

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Filed Under: Association Rights, Constitutional Rights, Free Speech Rights, Legal Rights