Category: Promotions

John Walker is a lieutenant in the Pocatello Police Department in Idaho. Walker sued the City, contending his due process rights were violated when Police Chief Scott Marchand and Mayor Brian Blad failed to deliver on Blad’s promise to promote Walker to captain. The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Walker’s lawsuit. The Court’s terse opinion began: “Walker’s due process claim is premised on his contention that he…

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In 2014, the New Orleans Civil Service Commission voted to adopt a package of rule amendments submitted by the City under its Great Place to Work Initiative. One of the goals of the initiative was to “eliminate the falsely objective rankings based on exams” and “allow managers to interview all the Civil Service Department certified eligible candidates and hire the best qualified one.” On April 20, 2016, Civil Service…

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Chicago Police Officer Cleveland Hardy served for three years as a driver for former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. When the Department announced openings for the sergeant position, McCarthy and Hardy discussed the possibility of Hardy applying. Command staff below the rank of deputy superintendent could nominate a candidate for the promotion as long as the candidate had passed an exam administered in 2006. Though Hardy failed the exam, McCarthy,…

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A group of corrections officers employed by the Hawaii Department of Public Safety applied for promotion to open supervisory positions. Each was informed by Department letter that his or her application had been denied. The letters noted that a background check revealed the applicants had violated the Department’s standards of conduct and had been suspended, sometimes for as little as one day. According to the letters, the Department deemed…

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In October 2011, Hanover, Massachusetts Police Officer Kristin Malloch took a promotional examination for police sergeant and received a score of 86. In April 2012, when the Town needed to fill two vacancies for sergeant, she was ranked first on the list of certified eligible candidates. The other officers on the list – Timothy Kane, Karl Buzalski, and Derek Richards – were ranked second, third, and fourth, respectively. Buzalski…

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Philadelphia firefighters are represented by Local 22 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, and are subject to Philadelphia’s Civil Service Regulations, which set forth the procedures for hiring and promotion in the City in accord with the Home Rule Charter. The Home Rule Charter directs that Civil Service Regulations “shall provide for” promotions which “give appropriate consideration to the applicant’s qualifications, record of performance, seniority and conduct.” Moreover,…

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Gayle McMullin is a lieutenant with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. For years, she served on and off as a training officer in several patrol schools at the Patrol’s Training Division. In that capacity, McMullin trained cadets in various disciplines such as driving, firearms, and physical fitness. In 2000, McMullin was transferred to the Training Division full time, and in 2006, was assigned to be a full-time training…

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Bruce Polkowitz and Michael Formica were two of three candidates considered for promotion to the position of captain in the Edison Township, New Jersey Police Department. The Township is a non-civil service municipality, and has enacted code provisions setting the criteria for promotions. The provisions involve a command staff review, which is required to consider seniority, job performance, attendance, and a review of each candidate’s personnel file. Each member…

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Dominick Landolfi works for the Melbourne, Florida Fire Department, and is a reservist with the United States Air Force. Landolfi sued the City, alleging that it discriminated against him because of his military service when it failed to promote him to Battalion Chief in 2006, 2008, and 2010, and to Assistant Chief of Administration in 2010. The federal Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Landolfi’s lawsuit. The Court agreed…

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Thomas Brown, a sergeant in the Cook County, Illinois Sheriff’s Office, was passed over for promotion to lieutenant. Brown sued, contending that he was passed over because he was a Republican, and because he did not contribute to the campaign of the then-Sheriff, Democrat Michael Sheahan. The federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals turned away Brown’s suit. In an opinion penned by Judge Richard Posner, widely regarded as one…

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A provision of Ohio state law states that a public safety employer “may appoint to a vacant position any one of the three highest scorers on the eligible list for a promotional examination.” The Boardman Township civil service rules, on the other hand, call for the promotion of the highest-ranking individual on the list: “If there is a valid eligibility list, the Commission shall, where there is a vacancy,…

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