| Description | Volume_Issue | Year | Month | 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 |
| Today we consider a decision by the Public Employment Relations Commission, of which the Firehouse Lawyer is a former commissioner, in which the hearing examiner found that there is no duty to bargain supplemental pensions; we then consider the 90-day statute of limitations for seeking the vacation of an arbitration award; a federal district court finding that the Department of Labor exceeded their authority when enacting a particular FMLA regulation; a question involving contractual obligations under the FMLA; a question involving the issuance of pagers and the implications that may present under the on-call-pay provisions FLSA; and to sum up, a question involving whether a fire department must have a fire chief to comply with Washington law. | 02-12 | 1998 | 12 | v02n12dec1998.pdf |
| Today we undertake a comprehensive analysis of the defenses the employer may bring in an arbitration; we also consider a Washington court case declaring Initiative 695 invalid, a law that would have substantially modified the “lid lift” laws; a federal court case involving the compensatory time provisions of FLSA; and another federal court case addressing the issue of whether direct evidence of discriminatory intent is required to avoid judgment as a matter of law for the employer. | 04-03 | 2000 | 3 | v04n03mar2000.pdf |
| This issues addresses a property tax law passed by our state legislature on the boundaries of taxing districts; provisions of a random law: the Federal Flag Code; and the importance of comparing the wages and other benefits of comparable jurisdictions during interest arbitration. | 07-06 | 2007 | 6 | v07n06jun2007.pdf |
| Here we consider the doctrine of "incompatible public offices", which is a rule that a public official cannot hold two offices simultaneously that are inconsistent with each other, or conflict; we also examine a case reversing the decision of an arbitrator because the decision was against public policy. | 10-01 | 2010 | 1 | v10n01jan2010.pdf |
| Quite often, technology and the law collide, especially on social media, and this may create concerns for open meetings and public records laws; speaking of records, we also discuss the meaning of "transitory records" as that pertains to the records retention schedules; we round out our discussion with a brief analysis of an age-old doctrine of administrative law and arbitration, called "exhaustion." | 13-05 | 2015 | 5 | May_2015.pdf |
| Retroactive decreases in employee benefits, or the withholding or rebate of wages, present contentious legal issues: Recently, the Washington Supreme Court decided a very important case addressing these issues, in the context of benefits that may or may not exist when a collective bargaining agreement has expired; we also discuss what steps a fire department may take to obtain mitigation in the event of new development, in lieu of impact fees, under the Washington State Environmental Policy Act, RCW 43.21C. | 13-07 | 2015 | 7 | July_2015_FINAL_2.pdf |
| The lesson for today is that written evidence of a particular fact will generally be given greater weight than an assertion of an oral understanding: put it in writing; we also consider how a union requesting information is different than a public records request; finally, we discuss how certain impending changes to the overtime requirements may in fact be halted. | 14-11 | 2016 | 11 | November2016FINAL.pdf |
| Today we discuss the concept of a "jar of muddy water" when negotiation contracts; we also discuss very important legislative changes for 2017; we then consider an alternative revenue source we call the 450 Tax, which could generate substantial revenue for fire departments; finally, we have our monthly Safety Bill. | 15-04 | 2017 | 4 | April2017FINAL.pdf |
| Today we discuss the highlights of all of the 2019 issues of the Firehouse Lawyer. Happy New Year! | 17-12 | 2019 | 12 | December2019FINAL.pdf |
| We should begin 2020 with a discussion of the roles and responsibilities of fire commissioners and fire chiefs, and how these two separate entities must "stay in their own lanes" to establish the goals of the agency: This article can be applied to any public agency having a "governing body" and a "CEO"; we also discuss certain Public Records Act cases and the "deferral doctrine" of the Public Employment Relations Commission. | 18-01 | 2020 | 1 | January2020FINAL.pdf |