St. Louis County Police Department Sgt. Keith Wildhaber had more than 15 years of experience on the force when he applied for a promotion in 2014, and by all accounts, he was a strong candidate. But shortly after Wildhaber applied, he said he was informed that there was one thing standing in his way of […]
Certain smells can put Ken Dillon in a dark hole. When Dillon, a Connecticut state trooper, smells pizza, for example, his mind rewinds to Dec. 14, 2012 — pizza Friday — at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 26 people, including 20 first-graders, were shot dead by a young man who then took his own life. […]
This article appears in the November 2019 issue of our monthly newsletter Public Safety Labor News. Maylee Bardelas is a police officer with the City of Doral, Florida. Bardelas was accused by Sergeant Eric Fernandez of “intentionally driving away from an active shooter scene” and was charged by the Department with “cowardice.” Eventually, the investigation […]
Though it seems like an anomaly in many places, in some areas of the country political patronage systems still exist. In such systems, employees can be discharged because of their political affiliations or activities. While the areas of the country where patronage systems exist are few and are shrinking, they still do exist. Mallory Jones […]
Good news is not on the way when a court starts its opinion in your case by writing: “A chance at a job is not a right to it. When the government has broad discretion to take a benefit away from its employees, that benefit is not a constitutionally protected property interest.” The case began […]
On July 9, 2016, a protest took place by blocking a public highway in front of the Baton Rouge Police Department headquarters in Louisiana. This demonstration was one in a string of protests across the country, often associated with Black Lives Matter, concerning police practices. The Department prepared by organizing a front line of officers […]
Angela Branford was a deputy sheriff with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon. Branford met Sergeant Jonathan Christensen when he led a training session. Sometime in 2013 or 2014, Branford and Christensen began a consensual romantic and sexual relationship. During the course of the relationship, Branford described Christensen’s behavior as growing more controlling. Branford […]
Officer Todd Furlong, who worked for the City of Inglewood, California, crashed his patrol car on La Brea Avenue while speeding to respond to an emergency call. The Department assigned Traffic Investigator Jeffrey LaGreek to the accident. LaGreek noted La Brea Avenue has two northbound and two southbound lanes at the location of the accident, […]
Maylee Bardelas is a police officer with the City of Doral, Florida. Bardelas was accused by Sergeant Eric Fernandez of “intentionally driving away from an active shooter scene” and was charged by the Department with “cowardice.” Eventually, the investigation determined that “there was insufficient evidence to substantiate a finding that Bardelas was the officer observed […]
When the City of Americus, Georgia failed to hire Roderick Jolivette as its fire chief, Jolivette sued, claiming he was discriminated against because he is African-American and in retaliation for suing his former employer for unlawful employment practices. A federal trial court found that the legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons the City proffered for hiring Roger Bivins, […]
Deputy Mark Montez worked as a corrections officer for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. On September 27, 2010, Dequan Ballard, an inmate in the jail, stole items from a commissary cart. The theft was reported to Deputy Omar Lopez, who informed Montez. Lopez and Montez took Ballard to an elevator landing to strip search […]
Scott Ledford is a former lance corporal with the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Ledford was injured in two separate work-related accidents. In July 2010, Ledford sustained injuries to his spine after being tasered during a training exercise. Ledford settled the 2010 claim with the State. In March 2012, Ledford was involved in a motorcycle accident […]
Joseph Juisti, who is Caucasian, was hired in or about April 2013 as a police officer for the City of Chester Police Department in Pennsylvania. Juisti worked in this position until January 2018, when he left work due to stress and anxiety stemming from perceived discrimination, retaliation, and harassment. Juisti was represented by the Fraternal […]
Phyllis Sloan is a firefighter for the Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department. Sloan contends that she is physically disabled as a result of chronic lateral epicondylitis in her right elbow, plantar fasciitis and acute bronchial spasms. Sloan filed a charge with the EEOC complaining of discrimination based on her sex and physical disabilities in 2015. […]
The New York Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau conducted an integrity test whereby an undercover officer acted intoxicated while parked illegally near a fire hydrant. A video of the incident shows Officer Richard Arroyo going into the undercover officer’s vehicle, taking $55 from the center console, taking a $20 bill and putting it into his […]
The union representing Pennsylvania’s correctional officers criticized both Corrections Secretary John Wetzel and the process for closing a prison after Wetzel was caught making comments on a live microphone during a recent public hearing regarding the planned closure of the Retreat facility. In a video of the hearing, which took place last week, Wetzel is seen […]
TAMPA ― Tavoris Allen said he never knew he was breaking the law when he brought a cooker full of coconut and cannabis to work with him last December at a Plant City fire station. Allen had an active medical-marijuana registry card and a written prescription for the drug from his doctor, records show. Even […]
