Sandulli Grace Online

It is a case that began way back in September 1994, when the City of Boston (“City”) first assigned Boston Municipal Police (“Municipal Police”) to patrol the Boston Housing Authority (“BHA”) housing developments without first bargaining with the Boston Police…

In a unanimous decision issued January 6, 2010, the state’s highest court has ruled in favor of the Lynn Police Association, MCOP Local 302 (“union”) in a contractual dispute with the City of Lynn (“City”). As a result of the ruling,…

The Civil Service Commission issued a decision on August 6, 2009 that allows employers to count some prior non-fire service in calculating firefighter seniority in the event of a layoff.  The decision confirms two prior Commission decisions from the 1990s,…

In a recent decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has allowed a public employer to block an injured employee’s attempt to retire on disability by modifying his work duties so that they no longer resemble his original core job duties. …

The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled on January 9, 2009 that the City of Lynn must pay nearly $300,000 in damages to the Lynn Police Association, Massachusetts Coalition of Police Local 302, for violating a memorandum of agreement.  In so ruling,…

In a surprisingly anti-employer decision, the Civil Service Commission enforced a preference for formerly disabled retirees at the expense of existing employees ready, willing and able to immediately accept a promotion appointment. In Faggiano, Jones & Cappuccio v. City of…

At first glance, the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in Sheriff of Suffolk County v. Jail Officers and Employees (http://socialaw.org/slip.htm?cid=18288&sid=120, decided June 23, 2008), which upholds an arbitrator’s reinstatement of a public employee, is unremarkable. Unfortunately, the Court’s reasoning and commentary in…

A recent Appeals Court decision gives employers another tool in keeping public employees from returning to work after disability retirement. In Facella v. City of Newton, 69 Mass. App. Ct. 459 (2007), the Court denied civil service rights to a…