Archives for October 2022

US District Court in Fairfax County, Virginia, Allows Dispatcher Disability Suit to Go Forward, finding that County May Have Unreasonably Delayed Accommodations

By Cynthia McNabb and Kim Lowe

In Williams v. Fairfax Cnty., a District Court judge ruled that a police and fire dispatcher’s ADA suit could go forward on the theory that Fairfax County, Virginia engaged in unreasonable delay in granting the dispatcher’s request for accommodation.

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US District Court in Florida Rules Regular Attendance to be Necessary Qualifications for Department of Corrections Officers, Rejects Former Employee’s Disability Suit

By Cynthia McNabb and Kim Lowe

In Aponte v. Akima Global Services, a District Court judge ruled that the Miami, Florida-based Department of Corrections’ contractor, Akima Global, did not discriminate against its former employee when it terminated her for chronic absenteeism. Regular attendance is a valid job qualification for corrections officers and Aponte’s spinal injury prohibited her from fulfilling that job duty, among others.

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Arbitrator Baroni Reduces Tallahassee, Florida Officer Discipline for Failure to De-escalate from Suspension to Written Reprimand

By Jim Cline and Kim Lowe

In City of Tallahassee, Arbitrator Baroni upheld a police officer’s policy violation for failure to use de-escalation techniques with a suspect, however he reduced the discipline from an 8-hour suspension to a written reprimand. While several factors contributed to Baroni’s decision to reduce the discipline, the main one was that Tallahassee Police Chief Revell acknowledged he deliberated departed from the usual, more moderate discipline, to “set the tone for his expectations in the department.” Baroni held choice resulted in too severe a punishment.

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