Description | Volume_Issue | Year | Month | PDF |
The Firehouse Lawyer knows the importance of avoiding liability: We now address the tort of wrongful discharge in violation of public policy, along with defamation claims arising out of workplace investigations; and then we talk about the payment of compensatory time in lieu of overtime compensation. | 08-11 | 2008 | 11 | v08n11nov2008.pdf |
This issue discusses a Washington Supreme Court case which extends the common law tort for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy to all employees, including union employees with protections within collective bargaining agreements; we also discuss amendments to the 207 (k) exemption under FLSA, which provides a partial overtime exemption for emergency workers such as police and firefighters. | 04-01 | 2000 | 1 | v04n01jan2000.pdf |
Now the Firehouse Lawyer highlights legislation in 1999 involving EMS Levies, fire district annexation, municipal officers and contracts, pension benefits, fire insurance premium taxes, drug administration, and 911 Telephone Systems; then we consider a case in which the Washington Supreme Court held that there is no cause of action for refusal to hire or re-hire someone. | 03-06 | 1999 | 6 | v03n06jun1999.pdf |
Sexual harassment in the workplace may subject the employer to immense liabilities, and today we consider implications of some very important cases decided by the United States Supreme Court, particularly with respect to “quid pro quo” harassment and hostile work environment claims; also, we analyze a federal court decision that dealt a blow to the compulsory arbitration process, by finding that employers may not compel individuals to waive their right to file their Title VII claims in court; the applicability of FLSA to municipal governments; the statute of limitations on claims for wrongful discharge based on employee handbooks; the validity of last chance agreements in the discharge and discipline process; the legality of psychological exams in the case of extreme misconduct; and we sum it all up by answering a question about rural fire districts and their concerns about mutual aid agreements. | 02-08 | 1998 | 8 | v02n08aug1998.pdf |
Employment law can be cumbersome, and today the Firehouse Lawyer addresses three important Washington Supreme Court decisions that fundamentally altered the doctrine of wrongful discharge in violation of public policy; we also discuss the destruction of non-archival records, and an important PERC decision pertaining to light duty and unilateral changes to working conditions. | 13-10 | 2015 | 10 | October2015_FINAL .pdf |
This issue considers new guidance from the Office of Civil Rights on the disclosure of vaccine information, and the applicability of the Loudermill case to terminations based upon the failure of an employee to vaccinate. | 19-10 | 2021 | 10 | October2021FINAL.pdf |