Overlawyered » public employment

“Wisconsin’s reforms are working”

Walter Olson — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:59:24 +0000

Sensible changes to the ground rules on labor relations — including the option to go around the union’s monopoly provider of health care insurance — are saving local governments hundreds of millions of dollars. [John Steele Gordon]

P.S. Bill McGurn on public employee unions in the still very unreformed state of New Jersey [Hillsdale "Imprimis"] And: how some public employees “spike” their pensions in California [L.A. Times via Amy Alkon]

Tags: California, labor unions, public employment, Wisconsin

“Wisconsin’s reforms are working” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Labor and employment roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 05:21:00 +0000

Two retaliation cases that should scare employers [Robin Shea via Jon Hyman]
Maryland law redefining independent contractors as employees vexes flooring business [Bethany Rodgers, Frederick News Post, editorial, earlier] New York Times on minimum wage 1987 vs. 2012: 1987 made more sense [Mark Perry] E-discovery drives up cost of wage and hour litigation [Jon Hyman]
Irony alert: “Unionized workers organize against National Labor Relations Board” [Adam Jablonowski, Daily Caller]
Proposals to create new rights for public employee unions [Ivan Osorio/CEI, federal; Jack Mann/CEI, California] Courtesy LA taxpayers, garage monitor at L.A. Department of Water & Power makes $74K/year as compared with $21K elsewhere [L.A. Times via Amy Alkon] Connecticut governor proceeds with plans to herd personal care attendants into union [Trey Kovacs/CEI]
Colorado measure regulating use of credit records in hiring is solution in search of problem [Mark Hillman, Colorado Springs Gazette]
Connecticut proposal to ban unemployment discrimination heats up [Daniel Schwartz]
German high court orders universities to raise salaries for starting professors [Walter Russell Mead]

Tags: Colorado, Connecticut, discrimination law, Germany, labor unions, Los Angeles, Maryland, public employment, wage and hour suits, workplace

Labor and employment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Tales from NYC’s “rubber room”

Walter Olson — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:39:34 +0000

The New York Post checks on on some unfireable teachers.

Tags: NYC, public employment, schools, teacher tenure

Tales from NYC’s “rubber room” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Great moments in public sector arbitration

Walter Olson — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:11:50 +0000

“A police lieutenant, fired for covering up a hit and run crash involving a fellow officer [she] was involved in a relationship with, has been reinstated following an arbitration decision that chastised the city’s Police Commission.” Christine Burns also got six months back pay. The arbitrator found that Burns’s boyfriend had been treated leniently, drawing only a one-year unpaid suspension despite serious misconduct, which in turn deprived her of her right to be treated “evenhandedly and without discrimination.” [Connecticut Post]

And while we’re at it: Police union defends Denver cop fired for driving drunk at 143 mph [Tina Korbe, Hot Air; The Truth About Cars]

Tags: Connecticut, Denver, labor unions, police, public employment

Great moments in public sector arbitration is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Labor law roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:26:22 +0000

But don’t call it quotas: “New Proposal May Force Federal Contractors to Hire More People with Disabilities” [Diversity Journal]
Wow: SEIU local advertises job described as “Train/lead members in … occupying state buildings and banks” [Instapundit]
$174K/year annual pension, collected for several decades? “Public retirement ages come under greater scrutiny” [AP] “Report makes ‘progressive’ pension-reform case” [Steven Greenhut, Public Sector Inc.] “Retired Cops and Firefighters in RI Town Accept Pension Cuts in Bankruptcy Deal” [Debra Cassens Weiss/ABA Journal, earlier] New York officials move to cut off public access to information about who’s getting what [NY Post]
In end run around Congress: “Obama instating labor rules for home-care aides” [LAT]
Artificial “take home pay” rule helped some highly paid Connecticut public workers qualify for emergency food stamps [Hartford Courant, more]
Lawyers, business groups alarmed at Department of Labor’s proposed “labor persuader” regulations [ABA Journal, earlier]

Tags: Connecticut, disabled rights, labor unions, New York, public employment

Labor law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

December 13 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:43:41 +0000

“The real cost of patent trolls” [Brad Feld, PoL on BU study] Survey finds patent litigation booming [Corporate Counsel, Reynolds Holding/Reuters] Company claiming patent on wi-fi-in-stores unlikely to sue retail customers “at this stage” [Patent Examiner] Retrospective on crustless-sandwich case [Peter Smith/Good, earlier]
Louisiana federal court holds severe obesity to be disability under ADA [Sam Bagenstos, related]
Florida: many cops remain on job despite evidence linking them to crimes [Balko on Sarasota Herald-Tribune investigation]
“FDA Regulation Could Doom Cigar Shops” [Jacob Sullum]
Ted Frank vs. Brian Fitzpatrick on class action fees [PoL, David Lat on Federalist Society panel]
Orange County keeps mum about partnerships it’s entered with plaintiff’s attorneys Robinson, Calcagnie and Thomas Girardi [Kim Stone, Fox & Hounds] Maybe like “private attorney generals”? Fannie/Freddie genre of government-sponsored enterprises called “monstrous moral hybrids” [Mark Calabria, Cato]
Posner: lawyers appeared more likely to run junk-fax suit for own interests than clients’ [Beck, Trask (Creative Montessori Learning Centers v. Ashford Gear LLC)]

Tags: class actions, Florida, Los Angeles, obesity, patent litigation, patent trolls, police, public employment, tobacco

December 13 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Illinois’ fragile prison guards

Walter Olson — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 05:22:54 +0000

The Associated Press and Belleville News-Democrat investigate some curious clusters of workers’-comp claims among downstate correctional officers and other public employees.

Tags: Illinois, public employment, workers' compensation

Illinois’ fragile prison guards is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Battleground Ohio: John Kasich’s Collective Bargaining Reform Goes Down”

Walter Olson — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:48:18 +0000

At Capital Research Center, James Antle has a post-mortem on the defeat of Ohio Republicans’ ambitious attempt to turn around the public sector employment climate.

Tags: firefighters, labor unions, Ohio, police, public employment

“Battleground Ohio: John Kasich’s Collective Bargaining Reform Goes Down” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

SEIU to Washington legislators: raise taxes or we’ll keep suing you

Walter Olson — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:02:29 +0000

“Washington [the state] is getting hit with so many lawsuits over budget cuts that it’s not clear at times who controls the state’s purse strings: lawmakers or the court system. … Overall, the state has been sued more than a dozen times because of cuts lawmakers made in recent years to curtail state spending and balance the budget.” A spokesman for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the groups suing the state over cuts, describes program cuts as “violating people’s rights” and says the state should raise revenue if it doesn’t want to be sued. [Seattle Times] (& Bainbridge).

Tags: labor unions, public employment, taxpayers, Washington state

SEIU to Washington legislators: raise taxes or we’ll keep suing you is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Great moments in California public employee tenure

Walter Olson — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:20:38 +0000

California public employees can appeal to the little-known Personnel Board to challenge terminations. Among those ordered reinstated: “A nurse’s aide accused of stealing money from an elderly patient and a hospital staffer who allegedly beat a disabled patient with a shoe.” Replete with examples, this is the sort of investigative piece that ought to make a difference, though alas it probably won’t [Los Angeles Times]

More: At The American, Lee Ohanian has a fact-packed overview of “America’s public sector union dilemma.” Fred Siegel is interviewed by Matthew Kaminski on New York City and public sector unions as the “New Tammany Hall” [WSJ] SEC chief Mary Schapiro says firing failed employees would “harm” the agency [Mark Calabria, Cato]. And Jonah Goldberg discovers that, especially in California, there really is something to this talk of a “prison-industrial complex.”

Tags: public employment

Great moments in California public employee tenure is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system