This article appears in the December 2022 issue of our monthly newsletter, Public Safety Labor News. John Scatchell was a police officer for the Village of Melrose Park in Illinois. In late 2017, he went on paid sick leave to recuperate from an injury to his neck, back, and arm he suffered while on duty, […]
John Scatchell was a police officer for the Village of Melrose Park in Illinois. In late 2017, he went on paid sick leave to recuperate from an injury to his neck, back, and arm he suffered while on duty, which left him with pain and numbness. Shortly after Scatchell went on leave, however, someone tipped […]
Larry Tate has worked for the Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, in the Department of Corrections since 2007. In his third year as a correctional officer, Tate suffered a back injury. He returned to work under medical restrictions that required him to “avoid situations in which there is a significant chance of violence or conflict.” […]
Jacob Johnson worked as an Air Force firefighter at Dyess Air Force Base from 2017 to 2019. Around March 2018, Johnson’s mother came to live with Johnson and his family. She was then taking around 13 pills to treat various health issues. Around the same time, Johnson was also taking “seven or eight” pills a […]
In 2020, the Colorado General Assembly created a new cause of action against peace officers for violation of a plaintiff’s civil rights. The law allows a plaintiff to sue a peace officer who, “under color of law, subjected or caused the plaintiff to be subjected to, including failing to intervene,” the deprivation of an individual […]
Calvin Lewis was a captain with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana. In 2007, Lewis met a woman referred to by the Court as “Jane Doe” while he was assigned to a work detail, and they began dating thereafter. Lewis and Doe, and Doe’s two children from a previous relationship, began living together […]
Andre Anderson, a corrections officer for the New York City Department of Corrections (DOC), was driving home from work when he was rear-ended by another motorist who fled the accident scene after Anderson insisted that they exchange insurance information. Anderson then pursued the occupants of the departing vehicle, first by car and then on foot, […]
When New England PBA Local 20 and the Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, could not reach agreement on a new contract, the dispute was sent to a tri-partite arbitration panel. The panel included labor representative Alan Andrews, management representative Andrew Flanagan, and neutral arbitrator Beth Ann Wolfson. On December 11, 2018, Town Counsel attached a draft […]
Laura Alkins was employed as a peace officer in the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office for nearly two decades. In 2018, she was notified that she would be reassigned back to the County jail, where she had worked several years earlier. In a meeting with her supervisor, Major Raymond Pelis, Alkins stated that during her prior […]
In 2014, Philadelphia Police Officer Raymond Diaz was injured in a motor vehicle accident in the course of his employment, sustaining a concussion and injuries to his neck and back. Diaz never returned to work and collected Heart and Lung Act benefits as part of Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation system. Diaz was prescribed pain medication, including […]
