Labor & Employment Law

Federal court does not have jurisdiction in cases involving public sector unions

Posted on May 05, 2008
Federal court does not have jurisdiction in cases involving public sector unionsBaumgart v Stony Brook Children?s Services, CA2, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 23301 The Second Circuit affirmed a federal district court?s dismissal of a lawsuit brought by members of the faculty of the State University of New York at Stony Brook alleging the failure of their union?s duty of fair representation...

Applicant failing to meet deadline for teaching certificate must meet new standard

Posted on May 05, 2008
Applicant failing to meet deadline for teaching certificate must meet new standardMatter of Bhatt v New York State Educ. Dept., 44 A.D.3d 1226, Appellate Division, Third Department [motion for leave to appeal denied, Court of Appeals, Slip Opinion No: 2008 NYSlipOp 70246 The New York State Department of Education told Guarang Bhatt that his application for a provisional teaching certificate in a particular science was deficient in a number of respects and that he had until February 1, 2004 to provide the necessary information...

Employee received all retirement and salary benefits upon ordered military service

Posted on May 05, 2008
Employee received all retirement and salary benefits upon ordered military serviceDeem, v New York State and Local Retirement System, 44 A.D.3d 1235, App Div, 3d Dept [Motion for leave to appeal denied, Court of Appeal, Slip Opinion No: 2008 NYSlipOp 61017] In January 2004, Michael A...

City did not violate FLSA by requiring employees to carry official records while commuting between home and work

Posted on May 02, 2008
City did not violate FLSA by requiring employees to carry official records while commuting between home and workRajkumar Singh, et al., v The City of New York, CA2, Docket 06-2969-cv, decided April 29, 2008Rajkumar Singh, Thomas S. Matthews, Vivek N. Patil, Trushant Shah, Faramarz Robeny and Fredo Joseph are fire alarm inspectors employed by New York City...

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Town may pay its police chief more than the minimum mandated by GML §207-m

Posted on May 02, 2008
Town may pay its police chief more than the minimum mandated by GML §207-mLavin v Town of E. Greenbush, 17 Misc.3d 766, Supreme Court, Rensselaer County, Zwack, J.§207-m of the General Municipal Law provides increases in the salary of the chief of police of a police department employing less than 575 sworn officers whenever ?the base salary or other compensation of the permanent full-time police officer who is a member of a negotiating unit and who is the highest ranking subordinate to the head of the police department in such unit, is increased the salary, ? of the permanent full-time head of the police department shall be increased by at least the same dollar amount of the base salary increase received by such next subordinate police officer, and the other compensation, ? of the permanent full-time head of the police department shall be increased to the same extent and with the same conditions as the other compensation received by the next subordinate police officer in the event that such subordinate officer?s other compensation is increased...

§306 appeal to Commissioner does not provide for an ?independent investigation?

Posted on May 02, 2008
§306 appeal to Commissioner does not provide for an ?independent investigation? Enrique Catalan v Board of Education of the Pocantico Hills Central School District Decisions of the Commissioner of Education, decision No. 15,660Enrique Catalan, a resident of the Pocantico Hills Central School District, attended several public meetings at which the District?s proposed 2006-2007 budget was considered...

Judicial review of staffing changes

Posted on May 02, 2008
Judicial review of staffing changesMatter of Civil Serv. Employees Assn., Inc., Local 1000, 43 A.D.3d 1341, Appellate Division, Fourth DepartmentThe Appellate Division vacated a lower court order permanently enjoined Erie County from laying off two County Correctional Facility employees...

Teacher to be reimbursed expenses incurred in defending himself against criminal charges alleged by students

Posted on May 01, 2008
Teacher to be reimbursed expenses incurred in defending himself against criminal charges alleged by studentsTimmerman v Board of Educ. of the City School Dist. of the City of New York, 2008 NY Slip Op 03969, Decided on April 29, 2008, Appellate Division, First Department Dolph Timmerman appealed the New York City Board of Education?s refusal to reimburse him the expenses he incurred in defending himself against criminal charges leveled against him by two of his students...

Employer cannot impose a disciplinary penalty not provided for by statute or by its own rules or written policies

Posted on May 01, 2008
Employer cannot impose a disciplinary penalty not provided for by statute or by its own rules or written policiesMatter of Gomez v New York City Dept. of Educ., 2008 NY Slip Op 03956, Decided on April 29, 2008, Appellate Division, First Department On April 26, 2006, Francia Gomez, a school bus driver since 1998 with a previously unblemished employment record, reported for work, she was notified that she had been randomly selected to appear at a Queens laboratory for a drug test and that her failure to submit to such test on that date might result in her decertification...

Assigning exclusive bargaining unit work to non-unit workers subject to negotiation

Posted on May 01, 2008
Assigning exclusive bargaining unit work to non-unit workers subject to negotiationMatter of County of Erie v State of New York Pub. Empl. Relations Bd., 43 A.D.3d 1311, Appellate Division, Fourth Department The Civil Service Employees Association, Inc...

NYC Civil Service Commission reinstates probationer without back salary

Posted on May 01, 2008
NYC Civil Service Commission reinstates probationer without back salaryMatter of Allocca v Kelly, 44 A.D.3d 308, Appellate Division, First Department A New York City probationary police officer, James Allocca, was dismissed from the position before the end of his probationary period...

Circuit Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit -- court review of labor arbitration is among narrowest known in the law

Posted on April 30, 2008
Circuit Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit, -- court review of labor arbitration is among narrowest known in the lawRamos-Santiago v UPS, ___F.3d___(1st Cir. April 24, 2008)Source: Adjunct Law Prof Blog; http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/adjunctprofs/Reproduced with permission...

Applying the ?Rules of Evidence? in arbitration proceedings

Posted on April 30, 2008
Applying the ?Rules of Evidence? in arbitration proceedingsIn re Social Service Employees Union, Local 371, v The City of New York, et al., Appellate Division, First Department, 2008 NY Slip Op 02889, Decided on April 1, 2008Local 371 filed a petition challenging an arbitrator?s award...

Reinstatement from Section 71 leave for disability

Posted on April 30, 2008
Reinstatement from Section 71 leave for disabilityMatter of James V. Sarto v Jeffrey A. Whittemore, et al, 43 A.D.3d 1343, Appellate Division, Fourth DepartmentJames V. Sarto had sustained a work-related injury in August 2003 and was receiving disability benefits when he was terminated from his position in December 2004...

Employee acquitted of criminal and disciplinary charges entitled to back pay

Posted on April 30, 2008
Employee acquitted of criminal and disciplinary charges entitled to back payBullock v Kelly, 17 Misc.3d 862In this Article 78 proceeding, Clayton Bullock asked the court to annul the determination of New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly denying his request for back pay and to award him such back pay and other benefits...

Federal court rules city?s residence requirement for firefighters constitutional

Posted on April 30, 2008
Federal court rules city?s residence requirement for firefighters constitutionalAss?n of Cleveland Fire Fighters v. City of Cleveland, USCA, Sixth Circuit, 502. F.3d 545City of Cleveland firefighters challenged the City?s residency requirement for firefighters, contending that the requirement limited their ?right to travel? and violated their right to equal protection because other city employee?s did not have to satisfy a residence requirement...

Power of the Arbitrator

Posted on April 29, 2008
Power of the ArbitratorMatter of Buffalo Teachers Fedn., Inc. v Board of Educ. of City School Dist. of City of Buffalo, 2008 NY Slip Op 03763, Decided on April 25, 2008, Appellate Division, Fourth DepartmentWhile the arbitrator was considering a contract grievance challenging changing the four health insurance providers set forth in the parties' collective bargaining agreement [CBA] to a single health insurance provider, the District's Executive Director for Human Resources advised a number of teachers that their positions were abolished effective August 31, 2005...

Receipt of an arbitration award starts the 90-day statute of limitation for an appeal

Posted on April 29, 2008
Receipt of an arbitration award starts the 90-day statute of limitation1 for an appealMatter of McRae v New York City Transit Authority, 39 A.D.3d 861, Appellate Division, Second Department, motion to appeal dismisses as untimely, 846 N.Y.S.2d 73 The Appellate Division dismissed Curtis McRae?s petition seeking to vacate an arbitration award dated December 28, 2004 as untimely...

Appointment from a preferred list

Posted on April 29, 2008
Appointment from a preferred listAppeal of Deborah Cooper from action of the Board of Education of the Hempstead Union Free School District Commissioner of Education Decision No. 15,708 The Commissioner dismissed Deborah Cooper?s appeal claiming that the school district should have appointed her to a Coordinator of Student Support Services position while she was on a preferred eligible list...

Contract grievance procedure held inapplicable in Article 78 disciplinary appeal

Posted on April 29, 2008
Contract grievance procedure held inapplicable in Article 78 disciplinary appealColeman v Town of Eastchester, 39 A.D.3d 855 Russell Coleman, a groundskeeper for a municipal golfing facility, was charged with 18 specifications of misconduct, insubordination, and incompetence involving the performance of his work...

Abandonment of a position in the public service

Posted on April 28, 2008
Abandonment of a position in the public serviceMatter of Michael Diggins v Honeoye Falls-Lima Cent. School Dist., 2008 NY Slip Op 03742, Decided on April 25, 2008, Appellate Division, Fourth Department The Appellate Division, 4th Department, directed the Board of Education of the Honeoye Falls-Lima Central School District to reinstate Michael Diggins to his position as a tenured teacher with back pay and benefits retroactive to September 1, 2006...

Employee on medical leave terminated because of an unacceptable personal risk to himself and safety concerns for others

Posted on April 28, 2008
Employee on medical leave terminated because of an unacceptable personal risk to himself and safety concerns for othersMatter of Wells v Johnson, 2008 NY Slip Op 03540, Decided on April 24, 2008, Appellate Division, Third DepartmentMichael K. Wells, a Youth Division Aide was employed by the Office of Children and Family Services [OCFS] as a Youth Division Aide 3 suffered a non-work-related heart condition which necessitated heart surgery...

Termination of an individual following his or her failure to obtain a required license deem a ?provoked discharge?

Posted on April 28, 2008
Termination of an individual following his or her failure to obtain a required license deem a ?provoked discharge? Matter of Rhome v Commissioner of Labor, 2008 NY Slip Op 03545, Decided on April 24, 2008, Appellate Division, Third Department Cynthia R...

Court review of university decisions concerning the appointment of faculty limited

Posted on April 28, 2008
Court review of university decisions concerning the appointment of faculty limitedPerinpanayagam v University At Buffalo & State Univ. of N. Y., 39 A.D.3d 1220 Dr. Hiran Perinpanayagam appealed SUNY at Buffalo?s decision not to renew his appointment as an Assistant Professor in the School of Dental Medicine...

Employees of a non-for-profit working in ?before school? and ?after school? childcare programs serving public school districts are not employees of an

Posted on April 25, 2008
Employees of a non-for-profit working in ?before school? and ?after school? childcare programs serving public school districts are not employees of an educational institutionMatter of Andrea T. Fernandez v Commissioner of Labor, 2008 NY Slip Op 03528, Decided on April 24, 2008, Appellate Division, Third DepartmentLabor Law §590(10)(11) makes employees of an educational institution having a reasonable assurance of employment in the next academic term ineligible for unemployment insurance benefits during periods of unemployment between successive academic terms...

Violation of the FMLA Does Not Support Claim of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

Posted on April 25, 2008
Violation of the FMLA Does Not Support Claim of Intentional Infliction of Emotional DistressSource: The FMLA Blog - http://federalfmla.typepad.com/fmla_blog/ Copyright © 2008. All rights reserved by Carl C. Bosland, Esq. Reproduced with permission. Mr...

Refusal to undergo a reasonably safe surgical procedure bars disability retirement

Posted on April 25, 2008
Refusal to undergo a reasonably safe surgical procedure bars disability retirementMatter of Richard Beckley v New York State & Local Retirement System, 43 A.D.3d 1267, Appellate Division, Third Department Richard Beckley, an automotive mechanic for a school district, injured his left foot in January 2001 when he attempted to board a school bus...

Applying statutory presumptions in resolving a workers? compensation claim

Posted on April 25, 2008
Applying statutory presumptions in resolving a workers? compensation claimMatter of Renee S. Thompson v Genesee County Sheriff?s Dept., 43 A.D.3d 1252, Appellate Division, Third Department Section 21 of the Workers? Compensation Law sets out a number of statutory presumptions to be used in adjudicating a claim for workers? compensation benefits...

Test applied by the courts in resolving challenges to a probationary termination

Posted on April 25, 2008
Test applied by the courts in resolving challenges to a probationary terminationMatter of Dorita L. James v Joel Klein, 43 A.D.3d 764, Appellate Division, First Department Dorita L. James was terminated from her position as a probationary assistant principal...

Challenging an administrative determination by a civil service commission

Posted on April 25, 2008
Challenging an administrative determination by a civil service commissionHorn v The New York City Civil Service Commission, 43 A.D.3d 760, Appellate Division, First Department Sharhann Lane, had been terminated from her position with the New York City Department of Corrections...

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