December 11, 2014
By Erica Shelley Nelson and Jordan Jones
In Alexander v. Boeing Co., the U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington denied defendant Boeing’s motion for summary judgment. The court found that there were genuine disputes of material fact regarding the plaintiff’s claims that Boeing violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Washington Family Medical Leave Act (WFMLA), and the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) when they terminated her employment.
Filed Under: Employment Discrimination
December 2, 2014
By Chris Casillas and Therese Norton
A ‘triggering event’ signals important deadlines for filing unfair labor practice complaints or else a party may risk losing the opportunity to file a complaint with the Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC). In Lake Washington School District, the Commission found that the Examiner Page A. Garcia erred in dismissing the IBEW Local 46’s skimming complaint as untimely and beyond the statute of limitations. The Commission explained that, in a skimming case, the triggering event for the statute of limitations is when bargaining unit work is assigned to non-bargaining unit employees, and not when the union receives notice of the employer’s intent to transfer the work, as the Examiner had concluded.
Filed Under: Duty to Bargain
November 7, 2014
By Therese Norton
Both employer and union can violate their good faith bargaining obligations under the state collective bargaining laws when one party advances proposals prior to interest arbitration that are regressive from proposals made earlier in negotiations. In Spokane County (Spokane County Deputy Sheriff’s Association), PERC Examiner Stephen W. Irvin found, and the Commission affirmed, that the Spokane County Deputy Sheriff’s Association breached its good faith bargaining obligations by submitting a regressive wage proposal after impasse and shortly before the parties’ scheduled interest arbitration hearing.
Filed Under: Bad Faith Bargaining
November 3, 2014
By Jordan Jones
In Hanson v. Cnty. of Kitsap, the court held that a Kitsap County Deputy Fire Marshal’s claims under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) relating to (1) reemployment, (2) benefits, (3) hostile work environment, and (4) constructive discharge should be dismissed under summary judgment. The court also held that the “[p]laintiff’s motion for summary judgment on his USERRA claim under § 4318 (pension) should be granted . . . . [T]he § 4311 USERRA claim and WLAD [i.e., Washington Law Against Discrimination] claim (to the extent they are based on the failure to promote him and his removal from the fire investigation rotation) and his USERRA claim under § 4316 (without cause discharge), is very thin, but is sufficient to allow to proceed on those claims.”
Filed Under: Employment Discrimination
October 30, 2014
By Jim Cline
As we indicated in an earlier blog, the State Supreme Court has accepted review of the Kitsap County retroactive insurance case. The issues in the case involve whether an employer can retroactively increase health insurance premiums and whether they may also deduct the amount needed to cover the increased premiums from the employee’s paychecks without employee consent. Our previous blog provides a detailed review of the legal issues before the Court.
Filed Under: Constitutional Rights, Wage and Hour Cases
October 27, 2014
By Jordan Jones
In Stresing v. Agostinoni, a Federal court held that a New York corrections officer (officer) waived any right to a pre-termination hearing when he signed a last chance agreement with his employer.
Filed Under: Constitutional Rights
October 23, 2014
By Kasey Burton
In Spratt v. Toft, the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division I, held that the King County Superior Court erred in failing to consider whether or not a plaintiff is likely to prevail on his or her defamation claim before dismissing the suit under the Washington Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) statute.
Filed Under: Free Speech Rights
October 23, 2014
By Jordan Jones
In Int'l Union of Police Ass'n, Local 748 v. Kitsap County, the Court of Appeals of Washington, Division One held that a trial court erred when it awarded attorney fees incurred in an Unfair Labor Practice ULP (ULP) proceeding to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant’s Association under the state wage law.
Filed Under: Public Sector Collective Bargaining Rights
October 20, 2014
By Jordan Jones
In Currier v. Northland Servs., Inc., the Court of Appeals of Washington, Division One (court) upheld a trial court decision that Northland Services Inc. (NSI) was liable for the retaliatory discharge of an independent contractor under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD). The court found that “[b]ecuase the WLAD applies to this case and substantial evidence supports the trial court’s findings and conclusions that retaliation was a substantial factor in NSI’s termination of . . . [the contractor,] we affirm the trial court’s judgment.”
Filed Under: Discrimination and Retaliation
September 29, 2014
By Therese Norton
The Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) vacated an order dismissing the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 609’s unfair labor practice complaint against the Seattle School District. Seattle School District, Decision 11995-A (PECB, 2014). The union had alleged the School District had provided false and misleading information in response to its information request regarding placing an employee on administrative leave. The District must now file its answer to the complaint, and the matter can proceed to a full evidentiary hearing.
