On October 21, 2017, Michael Stanitis, a police officer for the Bridgeport Police Department in Connecticut, responded to an incident in which he and other police officers arrested Carmelo Mendez. On October 22, 2020, the Bridgeport Board of Police Commissioners terminated Stanitis’ employment upon finding that he used excessive force during Mendez’s arrest, and that…
The City of Findlay, Ohio and the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association are parties to a collective bargaining agreement. Sergeant David Hill has worked for the Findlay Police Department since 1999. On July 6, 2012, Hill helped to create a video of him using a taser against the son of a fellow officer. The video violated…
A basic tenet of the principle of “just cause” for discipline is that public safety employees are expected to follow the instructions of their supervisors, except if doing so would result in the employee unnecessarily endangering his/her safety or in violating the law. A recent case from Mississippi shows that in a non-union environment –…
Labor issues in Colorado are handled under a patchwork quilt of laws. Firefighters are covered by a statewide bargaining law; police and sheriffs are not, and where law enforcement bargaining occurs, it is pursuant to local charter provisions and ordinances. Some local charters have broad definitions of what is negotiable, while others contain narrow lists…
Cletus Morton was a probation and parole officer for the Missouri Department of Corrections. On the evening of October 8, 2010, Morton was watching his seven-year-old daughter when he consumed between one-half and three-quarters of a 750 ML bottle of vodka. Morton’s behavior around his daughter caused her to call her mother, Morton’s ex-wife, and…
John Warren was a sergeant for the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. In 2007, Warren stowed an open bottle of vodka in the trunk of his Patrol-issued vehicle and drove to a party. He could have used his personal vehicle, but he elected not to because he was concerned that he would wake his aunt…
Robin Hoey joined Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department in 1985. Over the next nineteen years, he was progressively promoted to the positions of lieutenant, captain, inspector, and, in 2004, to commander of the Department’s Sixth District. On April 19, 2007, newly-appointed Chief of Police Cathy Lanier informed Hoey that she was returning him to the…
The 2003-2005 collective bargaining agreement between Lake County, Michigan and the Police Officers Association of Michigan contained a typical “just cause” disciplinary clause. As of the contract’s expiration on December 31, 2005, no agreement had been reached to extend the term or provisions of the contract. The parties reached a tentative agreement in May 2006.…
Richard Roberson is a police officer for the City of Seattle, and has a “significant disciplinary history.” In 2005, the City imposed a 30-day suspension on Roberson for three incidents. The first incident involved Roberson’s failure to properly follow up on a theft call because he mistakenly believed that “there’s no such crime as attempted…
Kimberly Falk worked for the Lee County, Florida Sheriff’s Department. When her employment was terminated, she appealed to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Civil Service Board. The Board affirmed her termination, and Falk appealed to the Florida Court of Appeals. The Court reversed Falk’s termination, finding that the Civil Service Board applied the wrong burden…
In October 2004, Local 2898 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, which represents rank-and-file employees of the Seattle Fire Department filed a grievance on behalf of a bargaining unit member alleging that the employer imposed discipline without just cause. The grievance eventually proceeded to arbitration. Prior to the arbitration hearing, Local 2898 requested that…
