From Washington:Question: Can an employer mandate/require an officer to get the COVID-19 vaccine to continue working? Do you see guilds/unions challenging this and how do you see courts ruling? Answer: There’s not a lot of law on whether a mandatory vaccine requirement would be a negotiable topic. The NLRB has some cases that suggest it […]
Under a Nevada Statute, an employer may offer temporary, light-duty employment to an injured employee in lieu of paying temporary total disability benefits to that employee. The statute provides that for a temporary, light-duty employment offer to be valid, the offered position must be “substantially similar” to the employee’s preinjury position in location, hours, wages, […]
The Charter of the City of Wilmington, Delaware requires that officers of the Wilmington Police Department reside in the City for the first five years of their employment. Under Delaware’s unusual system, the Charter was enacted by the Delaware legislature, known as the General Assembly. The General Assembly did not expressly define “residence” when enacting […]
Dale Newman was the Police Chief for the City of Leadwood, Missouri. In that capacity, Newman “was always subject to call.” Newman also held a second job as a warehouse worker with UPS in Crystal City, Missouri, where he loaded package delivery trucks. On August 27, 2014, Newman was loading delivery trucks at the UPS […]
Three firefighters perished in a house fire that occurred on September 24, 2016 in the City of Wilmington, Delaware. Three other firefighters were badly injured in the same fire. The three injured firefighters – Firefighter Brad Speakman, Senior Firefighter Terrance Tate, and Lieutenant John Cawthray – as well as the estates and survivors of the […]
A tort can be loosely defined as “a non-contractual civil wrong.” Some torts, including negligence and some forms of product liability, do not require any particular intent on the part of a wrongdoer. Others, most of which are collected under the heading of intentional torts, require that the wrongdoer act with impermissible intent. Battery and […]
James Fermin was hired by the Lawrence Police Department in Massachusetts in April 2016. After completion of the police academy, Fermin was sworn in as a full-time officer on October 14, 2016. Fermin was on probationary status until October 14, 2017. On August 2, 2017, Mayor Daniel Rivera gave Fermin a written notice of termination. […]
You know a court’s opinion will be anything but run-of-the-mill when it begins: “Social media has allowed Americans to connect with friends in far-flung places and to share their opinions on topics both mundane and momentous. But social media can also tempt people to impulsively make inflammatory comments that they later regret. And even worse […]
Christopher Staford was a Crest Hill police officer in Illinois. He was working as a patrol officer on December 11, 2010, when he and a suspect exchanged gunfire. During the incident, Staford’s gun jammed. Shortly after the incident, Staford went to the emergency room, where he complained of feeling “rattled” and “very anxious.” He was […]
Errol Cruz worked as a senior trooper for the Maryland State Police. In February 2018, his supervisor, Sergeant Torres, noticed that “he could not verify Cruz’s location” using a GPS device installed in Cruz’s patrol car and discovered that he was not able to log into the GPS device throughout Cruz’s shifts. Such GPS devices […]
Parties to contracts such as labor agreements can choose to substitute arbitration for a court resolution of contractual disputes. With two notable exceptions, final and binding arbitration of grievances is just that: final and binding. As the Supreme Court held in United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593 (1960), […]
