A contentious case involving a change in the light-duty practices of the Baltimore Police Department has produced a major ruling under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) as to an employer’s obligation to reasonably accommodate disabled officers. For many years, the Baltimore Police Department had a light-duty policy allowing injured officers to remain on the […]
Tracy Moore is a police officer with the City of Evans, Colorado. Moore was injured when a bullet flew up between his police officer’s “riot helmet” during an intense “live fire” training exercise with other police officers. The injury caused Moore to lose 57% of his vision in one eye. The exercise was part of […]
Robert Flamily is a firefighter with the City of Orlando, Florida. When Flamily contracted Hepatitis C, he filed a workers’ compensation claim against the City. The Florida Court of Appeals upheld the City’s denial of the claim. The Court ruled that under Florida law, to establish that he suffered from an occupational disease, Flamily was […]
H. Timothy Kreger applied to become a police officer with the Borough of Baldwin, Pennsylvania. Part of the testing process consisted of an interview with the Borough’s Civil Service Commission. Kreger was ranked second among all applicants, but was not hired even though he had prior experience as a police officer. Kreger brought a lawsuit […]
In March 2006, the Salt Lake City, Utah Police Department terminated Officer Terri Begay for allegedly growing and distributing peyote in violation of Section 841(a) of the United States Code. The Department’s rules required its officers to “obey the law,” and the Department alleged that Begay’s violation of Section 841(a) constituted a violation of its […]
Shortly after assuming the office of Sheriff of Clayton County, Georgia, Victor Hill sent notices summarily terminating the employment of 27 employees of the Sheriff’s Office. Hill took the position that the employees were not entitled to the protections of the Clayton County Civil Service System. Two of the 27 employees challenged their discharges, alleging […]
Julie Weger and Mary Murphy are female dispatchers with the City of Ladue, Missouri Police Department. Weger and Murphy sued the City, alleging sexual harassment on the part of William Baldwin, a captain in the Department. Baldwin had engaged in a series of harassing actions and comments, including unwanted touching of various parts of Murphy’s […]
Marc Desilets was employed by the Manchester, New Hampshire Police Department as a full-time police officer from 1998 until 2003. At the conclusion of an Internal Affairs investigation, the City fired Desilets for dishonesty. Desilets both initiated a grievance under the “just cause” provision of the collective bargaining agreement covering him and filed an unfair […]
Michael Thomas and John Armstrong were terminated from their positions as police officers with the City of North Las Vegas, Nevada Police Department. Under the collective bargaining agreement between the City and the North Las Vegas Police Officers Association, disciplinary appeals are handled through binding arbitration. However, the Association rejected Thomas’ and Armstrong’s request for […]
Kalonji Osaze was a police officer with the City of Strongsville, Ohio. When Osaze was terminated for infractions of the Department’s rules, he brought a lawsuit alleging, among other things, racial harassment. Osaze complained of three incidents involving explicitly racial comments. First, an officer posted a sheet of paper containing a printed caricature named “Afroman,” […]
In 2000, the Massachusetts Legislature approved a law dealing with the issue of racial profiling by police agencies. The law set forth a two-part data collection procedure. As part of the first phase, the Registry of Motor Vehicles collected data from any Massachusetts uniformed citation issued during a traffic stop. The Registry of Motor Vehicles […]
In 1998, the United States Supreme Court issued two decisions that made it much more difficult for individuals to claim that employers should be liable for sexual harassment engaged in by managers. Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998); Burlington Indus. Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998). Under the Ellerth-Faragher defense, […]
Tammy Frost worked as a volunteer emergency medical technician for Salter Path Fire and Rescue. On October 3, 2001, Salter Path sponsored and paid for an annual “fun day” event at the Lost Treasures Golf and Raceway. The Chief of Salter Path EMS encouraged Frost to attend in her capacity as an EMS captain. Frost […]
Kristy Richardson was a police officer with the City of Louisville, Kentucky. In 1997, Richardson became a member of the Metro Narcotics Unit, a joint unit of the Louisville and Jefferson County Police Departments. In March 2002, she was indicted on hundreds of felony counts based on her activities while serving as an officer of […]
Brandon Bullock is a police officer with Hamburg Township, Michigan. Bullock served alcohol to a minor in his home, and that minor was subsequently involved in a motorcycle accident in which the minor and his passenger sustained an injury. The minor called Bullock, who retrieved the motorcycle and passengers and brought them home. Neither the […]
Rodney Price was a Baltimore police officer who learned that his wife and Tristan Little were having an affair. On his way to work one evening, Price encountered his wife and Little outside of Little’s house. After asking Little, “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from my wife?” Price began firing his service weapon […]
From Massachusetts Question: The department disciplined an officer for speeding during a call response. The officer filed a grievance on the issue and a hearing was set up outside of the officer’s normal work hours, which put him into what would have been time paid as overtime had he been working a shift or staying […]
