Description | Volume_Issue | Year | Month | PDF |
We now discuss a decision of the Public Employment Relations Commission, of which the Firehouse Lawyer is a former commissioner, involving the duty to bargain supplemental pensions; the 90-day statute of limitations for vacation of arbitration awards; handicap discrimination and the duty to accommodate disabilities; the preemption of state law by FLSA; the requirement under the FMLA that the employer give notice of a requirement for medical certification; the 296-305 requirements for Washington fire departments in live-structure firefighting. | 02-11 | 1998 | 11 | v02n11nov1998.pdf |
Please be patient while we update our newsletter index. This issue, published in 2008, discusses an NLRB decision on the use of email to conduct union business, and some legislation addressing lifting the bid limit. | 08-02 | 2008 | 2 | v08n02feb2008.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 |
This issue covers four items: (1) what constitutes "unprofessional conduct" that may be reported to the Department of Health; (2) whether fire departments can trademark their logos; (3) "concerted activities" under the NLRA and Washington law; and (4) some bills of interest involving records training and meeting agendas. | 12-01 | 2014 | 3 | v12n01mar2014.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 |
2018 begins with a discussion of free speech in public employment; self-reporting de minimis violations of safety rules; websites and "places of public accommodation"; past practices, "joint employers" and employee handbooks on basis standards of civility; we also discussion a Washington court case that sets back firefighters. | 16-01 | 2018 | 1 | January2018FINAL.pdf |