Washington Labor and Employment Blog
The latest case law and legal developments in Washington labor & employment law.
By Therese Norton
In King County, Decision 11319-A (PECB, 2013), the Commission affirmed Examiner Karyl Elinski’s decision that King County engaged in an unfair labor practice when it unilaterally changed the parking fees it charges to members of the King County Corrections Guild in its parking garage. The Commission explained that it has long recognized that changes to employee parking are a mandatory subject of bargaining because it impacts employee working conditions. [Read more…]
By Jim Cline
In a recent blog article, we cited the recent difficulties involving the City of Mountlake Terrace and its police department. Although many of those issues involved Assistant City Manager Scott Hugill, a fair number of the issues involved Police Chief Greg Wilson. In a decision just released by PERC hearing examiner Robin Romeo, Wilson was found to have committed numerous ULPs. [Read more…]
By David E. Worley
In Derr v. Kern Cnty. Fire Dep’t, 117 FEP Cases 29 (Cal. Ct. App. 2013), the court affirmed the dismissal of claims of retaliation and discrimination of a firefighter who was subject to a hostile work environment at the hands of his supervisor who harbored staunchly homophobic views. The plaintiff, who has a homosexual daughter, claimed his supervisor continually harassed him, and even after their shifts were changed, the supervisor went out of his way to find the plaintiff and make harassing comments to him. While the court found that no adverse employment action occurred that would support the claims of discrimination and retaliation, the plaintiff had made a clear case of workplace harassment. [Read more…]
By Jim Cline
The legal woes and legal costs continue to compound for the beleaguered Mountlake Terrace Police Department and its City management team. Within weeks of being ordered by an arbitrator to reinstate police officer Tam Guthrie, the City has now been forced to pay out for the wrongful discharge of a former police secretary, Martha Karl.
By Jim Cline
Finding that controversial, Kitsap County Deputy Prosecutor Jacquelyn Aufderheide violated PERC requirements including an after-the-fact “torpedoing” of a tentative agreement reached between the Kitsap County labor negotiator and the Dispatchers’ Guild, in a recently released Kitsap County Decision 11675, PERC Hearing Examiner Guy Coss cited Aufderheide with a ULP and other rule violations.
By Jim Cline
Just last month, we wrote about a recent Ninth Circuit decision involving the Oregon Marion County Sheriff’s Office, in which the Ninth Circuit ruled that the enforcement of an arbitration award might be an enforceable “property interest” within the meaning of the due process clause. In that same article, we noted that this might provide labor organization an additional tool for enforcing arbitration awards. We also noted the 2009 Kitsap County Deputy Sheriffs’ Guild Supreme Court decision holding that “final and binding” decisions were, well, “final and binding”:
By David E. Worley
In Woodbury v. City of Seattle (2012 Wash. App LEXIS 47), the Washington Appeals Court upheld the dismissal of a Superior Court complaint by a police officer regarding retaliation for a whistleblower action. The Appellate Court held that under the relevant statute, a local government employee may only seek administrative relief initially, and Civil Courts will only be involved when appealing that administrative relief.
By Jim Cline
A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision made to provide labor organizations an additional tool in their efforts to enforce final and binding arbitration awards. As explained in our recent article, in addition to enforcing such awards under State contract law, labor organizations in concert with the affected employee, may be able to argue that refusal to abide by “final and binding” arbitration awards also constitute a violation of constitutional due process rights.
By Cynthia McNabb
On January 6, 2013, Officer Tam Guthrie of the Mountlake Terrace Police Department was ordered reinstated to his position as an Officer for the City of Mountlake Terrace. Arbitrator Mark Brennan also awarded that the City of Mountlake Terrace pay full back pay and benefits to Tam Guthrie from the date of termination based on his findings that the City of Mountlake Terrace did not have just cause to terminate the longtime employee. [Read more…]
By Kate Acheson
I
n LaCoursiere v. CamWest Development, Inc., the Washington Appeals Court dismissed an employee’s claims under the Wage Rebate Act (“WRA”), RCW 49.52. The employee, Shaun LaCoursiere, claimed his employer, CamWest Development, violated the WRA by depositing a portion of his bonuses in an investment account and by reimbursing only 60 percent – the vested portion – of the investment account upon his termination.
