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Bill of Rights Laws

****Editor's Case Alert****

     Police officers claimed that they had been mistreated during an internal investigation of the discharge of one of three officer's weapons while they were off duty and drinking at a bar in close proximity to a police station. The plaintiffs failed to show that their administrative interrogations about the incident violated the Public Safety Officers Bill of Rights Act or their Fourth Amendment rights or a state civil rights act. They failed to show physical or mental hardships. Quezada v. City of Los Angeles, #B245879, 2014 Cal. App. Lexis 8.

Collective Bargaining - Duty to Bargain

     The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) appealed a ruling that it had to bargain with a union of employees over installation of metal detectors at a compound in a high security facility. The metal detectors were placed where prisoners had to pass when going in or out of an exercise yard. A federal appeals court ruled that the order should be enforced in part, but ordered further proceedings to determine whether subsequent changed circumstances resulting from the changed use of the metal detectors meant that the order to bargain over the issue should be revised. U.S. DOJ v. FLRA, #12-1383, 2013 U.S. App. Lexis 24925 (D.C. Cir.).

Defamation

     After a correctional employee was demoted for violating a state travel billing policy, the department's Commissioner responded to media questions about the demotion. The employee sued for defamation. The Tennessee Supreme Court held that the state and cabinet level executive officials were absolutely immune from a defamation claim arising in this manner--for statements made while performing official duties. Jones v. State, #M2012-02546-SC-S09-CV, 2013 Tenn. Lexis 1013.

Disability Rights and Benefits

     When there was sufficient evidence that the plaintiff was unable to perform the usual duties of a California Highway Patrol officer, he was improperly denied disability benefits. This was despite the fact that he could perform the tasks of a public affairs officer job to which he had temporarily been assigned that was no longer available. Beckley v. Board of Administration of CalPERS, #A135418a, 2013 Cal. App. Lexis 1045.

Disciplinary Punishment

     A group supervisor at a youth center was fired after an incident involving him and one of the youths.. In an administrative appeal of his termination, a state personnel commission hearing officer set aside the termination and sent the case back to the agency to determine the right level of discipline. The Supreme Court of Nevada upheld a decision that the hearing officer, after having concluded that the firing was unreasonable was not required to specify the appropriate level of discipline as only the appointing authorities had the power to prescribe the actual discipline imposed on permanent classified state employees. Taylor v. Dep't of Health & Human Servs., #61241, 2013 Nev. Lexis 119.

Family & Medical Leave

     An Arkansas state agency employee was not entitled to leave under the Family Medical Leave Act as she had not been employed for 12 months and could not assert a claim for disability discrimination when she could not perform the essential functions of her job, with or without accommodation. Hill v. Walker, #13-1381, 2013 U.S. App. Lexis 24835 (8th Cir.).

Pensions

     The widows of two deceased firefighters who received duty-related injuries and died were not entitled to have a form of compensation that their husbands never received included in the calculation of their widows' pension. Duty availability pay to compensate firefighters for being available for duty was created after their husbands had already had their accidents, so they never received it. It could not then be included in the calculation of their benefits based on the current salary of the position last held by the deceased. Hooker v. Ret. Bd. of the Firemen's Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago, #114811, 2013 IL 114811, 2013 Ill. Lexis 1621.

Physical Injuries

****Editor's Case Alert****

     Firefighter was properly awarded $12.75 million in damages for injuries he suffered upon falling 15 feet through a station's pole hole. He claimed that the city had been negligent in failing to block the hole and that he had fallen through it when he woke up and sought to use the restroom. While the trial court erroneously barred the testimony of late-disclosed witnesses, the error was harmless. Jones v. City of Seattle, #87343-7, 2013 Wash. Lexis 955.

Retaliatory Personnel Action

   The Library of Congress recognizes some employee groups and allows them to use meeting rooms and obtain other benefits. An non-profit organization composed of current and former employees of the library argued that denying it such benefits violated its rights. A federal appeals court rejected this claim, in the absence of any allegation that denying the group recognition amounted to unlawful retaliation for statutorily protected employee or applicants. Howard R.L.Cook v. Billington, #12-5193, 2013 U.S. App. Lexis 24749 (D.C. Cir.).

      An officer was placed on paid leave after a hearing officer recommended his termination while investigating an allegation of him lying about the contents of a call from a police chief based on a recording that served as part of a list of grievances against the chief. He was later reinstated and sued, claiming unlawful retaliation in violation of the First Amendment for his complaint about the chief. A federal appeals court upheld a ruling that the statements were not protected speech as they had not addressed a matter of public concern. The defendants had been justified in bringing the charge based on the results of the investigation. Swetlik v. Crawford, #12-2675, 2013 U.S. App. Lexis 25589 (7th Cir.).

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     Disability Discrimination: "Resolving ADA Complaints Through Mediation: An Overview," U.S. Department of Justice (2013), and "The ADA Mediation Program: Questions and Answers," U.S. Department of Justice (2013).

Reference:

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AELE Seminars:

Management, Oversight and Monitoring of Use of Force
– Including ECW Post-Incident Forensics
Mar. 3-5, 2014 – Las Vegas

Lethal and Less Lethal Force
Oct. 13-15, 2014 – Orleans Hotel, Las Vegas

Public Safety Discipline and Internal Investigations
Dec. 15-17, 2014 – Orleans Hotel, Las Vegas

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