| Description | Volume_Issue | Year | Month | PDF |
| Today we discuss a new respiratory protection standard handed down by OSHA; Congress’ enactment of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, aka HIPAA; distinctions between hourly and salary-based employees under FLSA; and finally, very important considerations of excessive absenteeism under the FMLA. | 02-01 | 1998 | 1 | v02n01jan1998.pdf |
| We now discuss the HIPAA Security Rule, which pertains to administrative, physical, and technical safeguard measures, to ensure that your data is secure; a criminal case involving compliance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule; a court case involving whether volunteers are “participants” such that they should receive health and pension benefits under RCW 41.24; veterans’ scoring criteria; and important developments in the case law surrounding the Weingarten Doctrine. | 05-02 | 2005 | 2 | v05n02feb2005.pdf |
| Today we consider whether releasing only the name and address of a patient, without
any health information attached, does not per se violate HIPAA; the minutes of board meetings; whether certain positions “belong” in the union; the donation of buildings to burn; maintaining fire hydrants; and the purchase of fire engines and used equipment under the public bid laws.
| 05-08 | 2005 | 8 | v05n08aug2005.pdf |
| Today we discuss what constitutes “adverse action” under Title VII, in the context of retaliation claims; a new law addressing the response standards for “substantially career” fire departments; RCW 70.160, which relates to smoking indoors, and policies of fire departments that may be required to comply with that law; and general issues with releasing medical records under HIPAA. | 06-01 | 2006 | 1 | v06n01jan2006.pdf |
| Today we talk about a recent conference on HIPAA and RCW 70.02 compliance, which dealt with the following issues: expirations dates on releases; fees and charges; permissive releases; mandatory releases; and subpoenas | 06-02 | 2006 | 2 | v06n02feb2006.pdf |
| Today we address the provisions of the ADA that speak to a person being "regarded as" disabled, and how that may have similar legal implications as a person having an actual disability; we also address the issue of personal representatives under HIPAA and the Washington Health Care Information Act. | 07-04 | 2007 | 4 | v07n04apr2007.pdf |
| Here we discuss changes in the Washington Family Medical Leave law, and implementing policies for releasing photos. | 08-07 | 2008 | 7 | v08n07jul2008.pdf |
| This article addresses various issues with the Public Records Act, including requests for information, charges for copying records (and medical records specifically), and penalties for withholding records in bad faith; we also outline some age-old doctrines of labor law. | 09-07 | 2009 | 7 | v09n07jul2009.pdf |
| Today we outline the "special relationship" exception to the Public Duty Doctrine, as it pertains to 911 calls, discuss amendments to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, the legality of polygraph testing under RCW 49.44, and a great article from Sebris Busto James about EEOC Guidelines. | 11-01 | 2013 | 6 | v11n01jun2013.pdf |
| Today we consider when probationary employees may be entitled to a Loudermill conference prior to being terminated, when the health care information of employees may be withheld by an employer, and the propriety of forming an LID for purposes of funding a CARES Program; we also give a plug for our upcoming Municipal Roundtable! | 14-03 | 2016 | 3 | March2016.pdf |
| The Public Records Act has changed in a fundamental way, because the Washington Supreme Court has ruled that public agencies may now be charged a per-page penalty for wrongful withholding of public records; we also discuss a very important case related to bargaining subjects; charges for copying and searching for medical records; and another important case covering duty-related disability retirement. | 14-04 | 2016 | 4 | April2016FINAL.pdf |
| The laws applicable to fire districts and regional fire authorities are certainly not the same, and we consider those differences and similarities in this issue; we also discuss new litigation pertaining to worker's compensation and the "subjective findings" of treating physicians; we also outline a public records act case involving statutes of limitation. | 14-09 | 2016 | 9 | 2016SeptemberFINAL.pdf |
| For Labor Day weekend 2017, we consider some changes to the medical records laws in Washington State, and a case involving what must be proven to show that a local improvement district assessment should be invalidated. | 15-08 | 2017 | 8 | August2017FINAL.pdf |
| Today we consider special issues pertaining to medical records requests from attorneys and law enforcement; an important case relating to the necessary ballot-title language for levy lid lifts; an unemployment benefits case; and of course, our Safety Bill discusses body armor. | 15-09 | 2017 | 9 | September2017FINAL.pdf |
| The Firehouse Lawyer considers the importance of privacy in the context of health care information; we also discuss potential changes to the bid laws that would impact various public agencies, disability retirement, WPFMLA leave requirements, defamation law, and the concept of "unilateral change" in labor law. | 17-03 | 2019 | 4 | MarchApril2019.pdf |
| Because the wildfire season is essentially here, we thought it would be appropriate to discuss "abatement" costs and whether certain fire departments may recoup those costs; furthermore, we consider HIPAA, legislative changes pertaining to piggybacking, the "buddy system" under the safety regulations, a case involving the public disclosure rules, off-duty misconduct, and affirmative action. | 17-05 | 2019 | 5 | May2019FINAL.pdf |
| Today we discuss an important Washington Supreme Court case involving the liability of a city for what may have been the intentionally wrongful conduct of a police officer; we also outline annexation issues involving cities, forestland and taxation issues, and some minor linguistic changes to WAC 296-305, the safety standards for firefighters. | 17-06 | 2019 | 6 | June2019FINAL.pdf |
| The term "ordinary maintenance" has been re-defined and that will have positive and negative implications on public agencies with respect to compliance with the public-works laws; we also discuss what constitutes "unsecured protected health information" under HIPAA, the Model Toxic Controls Act, and a case involving the "professional rescuer doctrine." | 17-08 | 2019 | 8 | August2019FINAL.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 |
| Today we consider an important SCOTUS case involving the burden of proof in FLSA exemption cases; we also discuss FLSA sleep periods, and Washington cases involving data breaches and religious discrimination. | 22-11 | 2024 | 11 | November2024FINAL.pdf |