Posts tagged misconduct
For federal employees, remote work ought to be exception, not rule
February 9, 2025 // But the public sector is a different ballgame. Whereas most private sector employees can be fired at any time and for any reason, the process for firing federal workers is intentionally onerous. Federal employees' right to "due process" means that employers must give them a 30-day advance notice and explanation of alleged misconduct before a termination can go into effect. Federal employees then have the right to appeal the firing to an independent agency, retain independent counsel, file a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, and then be reinstated with back pay and benefits should the appeal succeed.
Former Chattanooga police chief, unions strike deal over subpoena
January 30, 2025 // The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported in March that Murphy's Tennessee voter registration did not line up with a primary residence tax exemption she received in Fulton County, Georgia. Three months later, Murphy, 56, was indicted on charges including illegal voter registration, false entries on official registration or election documents, false entries in governmental records, forgery, perjury and official misconduct. As part of her criminal defense, Murphy issued the subpoenas to the unions.
Commentary: Shawn Fain’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year
January 28, 2025 // Last summer, the UAW’s court-appointed corruption monitor released a shocking report detailing an investigation into allegations that the UAW Presidents Office was engaged in misconduct and retaliation against other members of the UAW executive board. To make matters worse, the UAW was also accused by the monitor of withholding documents needed for the investigation. Eventually, a federal court needed to step in to force Fain to hand over the documents, and a new report by the monitor this month announced yet another investigation into the UAW’s leadership. The UAW’s campaign to expand its membership in the South isn’t having much better luck, despite the $40 million committed to it.
UAW Hands Over Records to Court Monitor Amid New Investigations
January 16, 2025 // Barofsky said in a report to Lawson that its investigative team was combing through the records and looking into “new claims of misconduct” by union officials, but did not specify what the claims were.
Maine police unions push back over new oversight rules
October 12, 2024 // The Maine Criminal Justice Academy, which certifies the state's police and correctional officers, is considering new regulations that would discipline officers for behavior such as harassing civilians, falsifying written or verbal communications in official reports, possessing a controlled substance and engaging in conduct while on duty that would "significantly diminish the public’s confidence" in law enforcement. The new regulations, which have broad support from top law-enforcement officials, come three years after the state Legislature approved plans to expand the academy’s disciplinary powers and provide the public with more information about misconduct by police and corrections officers. However, in recent comments to the agency, the Maine Association of Police and Maine State Law Enforcement Association expressed "alarm and concern" about the proposed rules. They said the changes "shock the conscience of the already established, clear statutes, regulations and processes that are already custom and practice and very much effective."
Apple accused by US labor board of imposing illegal workplace rules
October 1, 2024 // The National Labor Relations Board in the complaint announced late on Monday claims Apple required employees nationwide to sign illegal confidentiality, non-disclosure, and non-compete agreements and imposed overly broad misconduct and social media policies.
New Details Emerge in the Misconduct Investigation Into Shawn Fain and the UAW
July 22, 2024 // A recent third-party audit of the union’s culture, which was recommended by the monitor, confirmed these concerns. The audit found that 40% percent of UAW’s staff members would decline to report acts of misconduct over fear of retaliation.
Fain, UAW VP trade barbs in letters over Stellantis Department
June 17, 2024 // One specific issue of contention was the location of the 2024 UAW National Stellantis Council meeting, which, according to a union flyer, was scheduled for March 17-22, at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Fain said that Boyer decided, despite his repeated objections, to hold the council in Puerto Rico "where we have many members but none that work for Stellantis." He said the decision has "continued to haunt us in our new organizing drives, where anti-union employers have repeatedly thrown it in our face — just as I predicted they would."
Biden Pushes Early Renomination of Failed NLRB Chair in Effort to Deny Possible Trump Administration Control over Labor Board
June 12, 2024 // The NLRB is composed of five members, usually three of whom are from the president’s political party and two from the opposing party. The Board uses both adjudication and rulemaking to put forward its interpretations of the NLRA, but it needs a quorum of three members to act. Currently, there are four Board members (see Board composition here). Three of the members are Democrats, while one is a Republican. The other Republican seat has been vacant since December of 2022, because President Biden chose not to nominate anyone to that vacancy for a year and a half. While agency vacancies and delays on nominations are nothing new in Washington, this one is notable and shows an unusual partisanship and dishonesty.
A Ballot Initiative Crafted by the Portland Police Union Seeks to Alter Function of Future Police Oversight Body
February 27, 2024 // The ballot initiative the police union and its backers have crafted would make the oversight board almost unrecognizable from the vision laid out by former Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty and her allies in the 2020 ballot measure. Perhaps most importantly, the initiative would shift the ultimate power of disciplining officers away from the board—and give it to Portland’s police chief. The accountability body would “provide to the Chief of Police full, fair, and objective investigation reports and recommended levels of discipline, if any, for complaints within its jurisdiction,” the initiative reads. “The Chief of Police shall have final and sole authority to impose discipline against Portland Police Bureau sworn employees.”