Archives for December 2012

December 14, 2012 By

PERC Hearing Examiner Holds that Employer Permitted to Discipline and Terminate Employees for “Legitimate” Reasons, Even If Employees Also Engaged in “Protected” Conduct

By Kate Acheson

In Kiona Benton School District, Decision 11563 (EDUC, 2012), the union alleged that the employer committed an unfair labor practice, in retaliating against three, school district employees who exercised their statutory right to participate in an earlier PERC ULP proceeding.  PERC hearing examiner Steve Irvin concluded that even though the employees had engaged in protected activities and the employer’s layoffs arguably violated the collective bargaining agreement, the union did not carry its burden of proof that the employer actions were pretextual.

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Filed Under: Discrimination and Retaliation, Employment Discrimination
December 11, 2012 By

Terms of Federal Bailout Disallowing “Golden Parachute” Doesn’t Prohibit Payment of Damages to CEO in Discrimination Claim, WA District Court Finds

By Kate Acheson

In Sterling Savings Bank v. Stanley, a Washington District Court rejected Sterling Bank’s argument that receipt of federal Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds, restricts them from making any payment to its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mrs. Heidi Stanley, after her termination.  The Court found that TARP was not intended to prevent monetary recovery in discrimination suits like Mrs. Stanley’s.

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Filed Under: Employment Discrimination
December 11, 2012 By

Employer Must Compensate Ten Minutes of Fifteen-Minute Missed Break at Overtime Rate, State Supreme Court Finds

By Kate Acheson

The Washington State Supreme Court found, in Wash. State Nurses Ass’n v. Sacred Heart Med. Ctr., that employees were inadequately compensated for missing 15-minute breaks mandated by their Collective Bargaining Agreement because they were entitled to overtime pay for 10 of those minutes (the state-required break time), when they worked over 40 hours in a week.

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Filed Under: Wage and Hour Cases
December 7, 2012 By

Federal Appellate Ruling on Constitutionality of Tattoo Policy Is Not Controlling on Scope of Collective Bargaining Issues

By Jim Cline

The recent ruling of the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals (Scavone v. Pennsylvania State Police), governing preemployment tattoo policies, addresses some interesting issues and is explained in a recent blog article. Our readers should be aware, that these issues are not controlling, or in any way dispositive of employers separate obligations under collective bargaining laws.

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Filed Under: Public Sector Collective Bargaining Rights