Jeremy Clawson is a black firefighter in the City of Albany, New York. He began his career with the Albany Fire Department (AFD) in 1993, was promoted to lieutenant in 2005, and to captain in 2010. In 2019, Clawson was offered a provisional promotion to battalion chief, the third highest-ranking pos
Tyler Copeland is a transgender man who began working for the Georgia Department of Corrections around 2014. At the time, he identified as female, which was his assigned gender at birth. A year after beginning his career with the Department, Copeland was transferred to Rogers State Prison (RSP), a
Shelley Pritchett began her career as a Corrections Officer at the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) in 2006. In June 2011, she broke up a fight between two inmates, resulting in significant injuries to her back, knee, and neck. Pritchett went on Workers’ Compensation leave and began medical
After a career as a deputy sheriff, Charles Aldean worked as a police officer with the City of Woodbury, Minnesota from 2017 until 2020. During his tenure, Aldean enrolled in the City’s health insurance plan with his wife and two children listed as dependents. Aldean experienced health problems at w
Logan Malik was a police officer in Washingtonville, Ohio who was convicted of falsely portraying himself as a U.S. Marshal to several members of the public over the course of one evening. First, he told a store employee at a Macy’s jewelry counter in Boardman, Ohio that he was part of a fugitive t
On May 3, 2017, Jesse Smith was driving near a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania school zone, when Robert Kramer, an off-duty police officer, pulled up alongside him. Smith alleges that Kramer aimed a handgun at him, then drove away when Smith demanded that he pull over. Smith reported the incident to 911 a
Joshua Young was a corrections sergeant at the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC). In or around 2020, the Department implemented mandatory Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training for its employees, consisting of several online modules to be completed on employees’ personal computers.
The Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association (PSCOA) is the exclusive bargaining representative for correctional officers employed by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC). Maximilian Kauert is a corrections officer at a state prison (Somerset) and served in several official u
David Tortora is a detective with the Bergenfield Police Department (BPD) in Bergenfield Borough, New Jersey. He also has served as the president of the local Police Benevolent Association since 2018. Between 2017 and 2022, the BPD and the Union attempted, unsuccessfully, to negotiate a new contrac
Albany County, New York negotiated a series of one-year contracts with the New York State Unified Court System to provide security services through its sheriff’s department for the county courthouse. In early September 2021, the County received a notice from the Office of Court Administration (OCA)
From Indiana:Question: In the city where I am employed, when an officer accepts a promotion to sergeant, or a sergeant accepts a promotion to lieutenant, they lose all of their seniority rights (vacation bidding, shift preference, forced overtime details). The fire department in the same city does n
David Foriska is a correctional officer working at Allegheny County Jail in Pennsylvania. Foriska was terminated for alleged misconduct, and reinstated on September 16, 2018, pursuant to an arbitrator’s order. The award also provided that Foriska “shall be made whole for any and all losses, includin
John Catanzara served as a police officer with the Chicago Police Department from January 1995 until his resignation on November 16, 2021. Prior to his election as president of Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #7 in May 2020, Catanzara had been investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountab
In December 2022, firefighters for the City of Biloxi, Mississippi sued the City for withheld longevity payments in violation of the FLSA. In May 2023, the parties reached a tentative settlement agreement that the City would reinstate longevity payments to all City firefighters beginning on October
The Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) is the exclusive bargaining representative for captains and sergeants in the City of Parma Heights, Ohio. The City’s patrol officers are in a separate bargaining unit and represented by a different union. The PBA and the City bargained a contract spa
Zachary Leonard was hired as a police officer in Burkburnett, Texas in 2005. He was a founding member of the Burkburnett Police Association and served multiple terms as an executive board member. In 2018, the Association identified morale issues and problems of leadership in the police department. L
On October 20, 2021, the New York City Commissioner of Health ordered all New York City employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Pursuant to the commissioner’s order, all non-exempt employees were required to provide proof of vaccination by October 29. John J. Hodgens, the Chief of Operations of
Michael Pinkerton was hired as a police officer by the city of Oak Park, Michigan in 1996, and was represented by the Oak Park Public Safety Officers Association.In December of 1997, Pinkerton resigned from his employment with the City and worked at a mortgage banking firm. After a short time, howev
In June 2019, 54 current and former firefighters employed by the City of Morgantown, West Virginia sued the City regarding their compensation for legal holidays under § 10a of West Virginia Code. The Legislature adopted § 10a to provide firefighters with “enhanced benefits.” It provides that if a fi
Manuel Adams had an 18-year career with the Hanrahan Police Department (HPD) in Hanrahan, Louisiana, eventually reaching the rank of captain. He had an unblemished disciplinary record during his tenure with HPD. But that changed in October 2019, when HPD Chief of Police Robert Walker determined that
On September 1, 2021, Geoffrey Stone, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 319, sent a request for information to Patrick Hopkins, a business administrator for the City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. On behalf of the Union, which represented the City’s 74 fire bureau emplo
IAFF Local 1148 represents firefighters in the City of Meriden, Connecticut. The parties were bound by a CBA spanning July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2015. The parties exercised a wage reopener provision in the final year of the contract. Those wage negotiations reached impasse, and interest arbitration h
James Taylor and Sheldon Scott were police officers in South Bend, Indiana. Taylor began in 1993 and was promoted to detective in 2005. He received numerous disciplinary actions, warnings, and reprimands throughout his career for an assortment of issues – mostly report writing. Scott began working a
Justin Kerschner began working as a Corrections Officer in 2012, most recently at the State Correctional Institution at Frackville, Pennsylvania (SCI-Frackville). Kerschner was a member of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association (PSCOA), which maintained a collective bargaining agree