The Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 47, started gathering signatures for a representation election, and on February 7, 2024, the FOP notified the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office that 75% of their employees had voted “yes” for collective bargaining. The FOP also stated that it had met with Sheri
Reginald Brown was employed as a corporal and Interim Chief of Police for the Monroe Police Department (MPD) in Louisiana. On July 6, 2020, just before a contested mayoral election, officers informed Brown of an incident involving alleged excessive force. Brown notified the city attorney, placed the
Aimee Bodge and several other state troopers filed a lawsuit alleging that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had a policy of denying the accrual of benefits, specifically seniority, length-of-service credit, vacation time, and sick time, while an employee was on Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PF
Wayne Brown, a former Tulsa, Oklahoma police officer, brought a Section 1983 action against the City of Tulsa and Tulsa Police Chief Charles Jordan, alleging he was terminated in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment free speech rights and in violation of his equal protection rights.In Sept
In July 2019, Brent Bartlett, a Juneau, Alaska Police Department (JPD) officer, rear-ended Arlene Tripp’s car while Bartlett was off duty. Bartlett was found to be severely intoxicated, with a blood alcohol content of 0.239, nearly three times the legal limit, and subsequently pled guilty to drivin
In March 2020, Deputy Chief Pietro Martino of the Plainfield Fire Department in New Jersey taught a course on COVID-19. Timothy Burkhardt, a firefighter of Asian descent, fell asleep during the class. Martino took this opportunity to mock Burkhardt, asking him if he “just got back from Wuhan, and
Michael Burke was employed by the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office, in Oregon, from 1998 to 2007. His employment was terminated after an unreasonable use-of-force incident that occurred in May 2007. Burke placed a cooperative vehicle passenger under arrest using an armbar, which is a submission t
Between April and December 2020, Arthur Canaii, a firefighter for the Virgin Islands Fire Service (VIFS), requested legal representation from his Union multiple times, both orally and in writing, in response to what he alleged was disability discrimination, sexual harassment, unfair labor practices
Though the dispute in the following case did not specifically involve a public safety union, the implications for public sector bargaining of any kind are plainly apparent.AFSCME Council 25 and Wayne County, Michigan were party to a CBA which provided, in relevant part:“Unless otherwise specified, r
The Plain View Project, which collected Facebook posts and comments made by current and former police officers from across the United States, became publicly available in 2017. The database contained over 3,000 posts attributed to Philadelphia police officers, 593 of which were tied to the plaintif
Rhonda Staton was hired as a police officer by the City and County of Butte-Silver Bow (BSB), Montana in 2001, and she was promoted to detective in 2008. In 2017, she received a verbal reprimand for tardiness, and another in 2018 for refusing to investigate underage drinking at a football game. In
In the summer of 2021, Deputy Sheriff R.L. and his wife attended a party together where R.L. drank and became angry. After they returned home, R.L.’s wife contacted friends and told them that R.L. was drunk and belligerent, having put her in handcuffs and threatened to arrest her. The friends notifi
Nick Martens was a police officer in the city of Marion, Iowa. Martens also served as the president of the Marion Policeman’s Protective Association. In that capacity, Martens sent an email to management reporting a complaint on behalf of a Union member which allegedly contained factual inaccuracie
Leroy Williams, a special police officer with the District of Columbia’s Department of General Services (DGS), was terminated in August 2019 for conduct relating to two unauthorized traffic stops the previous March. Upon receiving a final notice of separation, Williams was presented with three optio
The Paterson Deputy Fire Chiefs Association represents Deputy Fire Chiefs in the City of Paterson, New Jersey. For about ten years, the City has been designated as a “city in distress” by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA). As a result, the City entered into a Memorandum of Under
In 2014, King County began to signal to the King County Corrections Guild that it wished to include mandatory overtime in the “essential functions form” that it had been providing to doctors for the purposes of assessing disability accommodations. Historically, mandatory overtime, along with volun
Thad Brockett worked in the Effingham County, Illinois Sheriff’s Department from July 1996 until December 2014. From 2012-2014, Brockett was promoted by Sheriff John Monnet to serve as Operations Sergeant, supervising and overseeing the jail, telecommunications, and court security personnel. Righ
The Newark Police Superior Officers’ Association (SOA) alleged that the City of Newark violated the New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act by refusing to negotiate in good faith for a successor agreement.The most recent agreement between the City and SOA spanned from 2013 to 2015 and was exten
Kate Adams was hired by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department in 1994, and by March 2020, she had worked her way up to Chief of Police for the City of Rancho Cordova in California. Her time in the position, however, was short-lived, as Adams was forced to resign the following year after allegat
In 2015, the Internal Affairs Unit of the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety in California opened an investigation into David Meinhardt, an officer who also happened to be the president of the Sunnyvale Public Safety Officers’ Association. IA was following up on a complaint that Meinhardt was usi
Like many municipalities across the country, the City of Los Angeles declared an emergency in March 2020 in response to COVID-19. The following August, the City passed an ordinance that required all City employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, request an exemption, or be subject to “appropriate
In 2023, Wesley Shifflett, a police officer with the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia, shot and killed Timothy McCree Johnson outside of the Tysons Corner Center Mall. Johnson was suspected of shoplifting. As Shifflett gave chase, Shifflett alleged, Johnson “quickly stopped his flight, t
Gregory Moliere served as a police officer in the Buffalo Police Department in Texas. Despite department policy to the contrary, Moliere engaged in a high-speed chase while a civilian was riding along in his patrol vehicle. The chase resulted in an accident that damaged the patrol vehicle. Moliere r
American Federation of Government Employees Local 3584, representing a unit of correctional workers, made an information request to the Department of Justice’s Office of Internal Affairs on behalf of its members at FCI Dublin, a low-security federal prison in California. The Union believed that the