Category: Uncategorized

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — Some firefighters in the area say they would rather lose their job than get the COVID-19 vaccine. Of the 300 firefighters in the Spokane Firefighter’s Union (IAFF Local 29), nearly half haven’t been vaccinated and 15 have already expressed they’d rather lose their job, according to President Tim Archer. He said they will be fighting the mandate as a union. Out of the 170 firefighters…

Read More

CLEVELAND, Ohio— A Cleveland police officer was fired Monday, months after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge stemming from a domestic violence incident. David Carpenter, 38, pleaded guilty in January to a charge of disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to one year on probation and ordered to pay $457 in fines and court costs. Prosecutors initially charged Carpenter with domestic violence and unlawful restraint in the Feb. 14,…

Read More

A “tsunami” of buyouts among State Police leaving the force amid an onslaught of criticism has union officials sounding the alarm as an overtime scandal and dishonorable discharges also hound the agency. State Police spokesman David Procopio confirmed Monday the number of retirements among the ranks “has increased,” but could not provide exact numbers to the Herald. A review of state payroll data revealed state troopers are increasingly clamoring…

Read More

The new police chief at the University of Utah is seeking $10 million from the school, saying he has been targeted for his efforts to reform the troubled campus police department after student-athlete Lauren McCluskey’s murder. Rodney Chatman also says he came under fire for bringing up additional concerns that the U. was failing to properly report sexual assaults according to federal requirements. His transparency, he alleges, made him an easy…

Read More

The Massachusetts State Police have kicked 14 troopers off the force in the past dozen months for disgracing the badge — from “inappropriate” texting to “ethnic slurs” and sloppy oversight of weapons, the Herald has learned. A public records request filed by the Herald shows 14 troopers were given dishonorable discharges — or quit while under investigation — over the past 12 months. This does not include other officers…

Read More

A Delaware County judge has ruled that three Orange Township firefighters — two of them supervisors — were improperly fired two years ago following an investigation into allegations of harassment, hazing and bullying. Pending the outcome of appeals, Capt. John Hodges, Lt. Dave Martin and firefighter Bradley Belville will return to full-time employment with no loss of rank, full benefits and reimbursement of back pay since their firing in 2019. In addition, their records…

Read More

TOLEDO, OH — Leukemia. Prostate cancer. Colon cancer. Toledo firefighters have been diagnosed with all three, and more, after working a job that puts them at risk of exposure to hazardous materials, including carcinogens — substances that cause cancer. And despite a state law that says, in general, firefighters who file for workers’ compensation related to cancer treatments should be presumed to have gotten the disease through their work…

Read More

Purchase an individual presentation ($39) or the entire webinar series ($195). Tuesday, November 3, 2020 Sources of the Law 8:30 PST | 11:30 EST | 90 Minutes How a single employment issue can involve federal, state, and local law. Where collective bargaining and bills of rights exist, and the current attacks on both. How the politics of different court systems can lead to a different choice in courts. How…

Read More

The top official for the state’s largest police union expects to see a “significant number” of retirements amid police reform and the unrest following George Floyd’s death in May. “The strain from the public has been really palpable,” Pat Colligan, the president of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, told NJ Advance Media. We’re going to see “really significant numbers” of retirements, he said. Colligan’s comments come as…

Read More

PHILADELPHIA, PA — More than a dozen current and former Philadelphia police officers sued the city this month, saying they were fired, suspended, or forced to retire due to “reverse racism” or “viewpoint discrimination” aimed at weeding out cops with right-wing views. All 16 plaintiffs were disciplined or lost their jobs in response to the 2019 publication of Facebook posts from more than 300 city cops who had expressed what the…

Read More

ROCHESTER, NY — The newly formed Rochester Police Accountability Board was stripped of its disciplinary powers through a decision issued in state Supreme Court on Thursday. City voters overwhelmingly approved the PAB during the last election. It was established as an independent office of city government to investigate allegations of misconduct by sworn officers up to and including the chief. The legality of the PAB was challenged in a lawsuit filed by…

Read More

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The city firefighters union issued a statement Friday, calling the city’s proposal to possibly layoff or furlough firefighters after they are risking their lives on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic a “slap in the face.” The city is trying to recoup a $103 million budgetary shortfall for fiscal year 2021, which starts on July 1. The options were presented to several city unions, including fire and…

Read More