The Utah Supreme Court issued a decision last week that will allow a railroad employee to pursue his claims for the injuries he suffered when he bumped his head on an overhead air-conditioner. The case entitled Raab v. Utah Railway Company will almost certainly become an oft-cited case in legal circles for its systematic analysis […]
In Utah, an employer may not deduct, withhold, or divert any part of an employees wage except in specific circumstances, including as required by court order, by state or federal law, or by express written authorization of the employee. The regulations implementing this statutory provision are very restrictive with respect to express written authorizations that […]
Salt Lake City Mayor, Ralph Becker, has declared his intention to deliver a nondiscrimination ordinance in mid-September that will recommend the adoption of an ordinance that will prohibit employers in Salt Lake City from discriminating against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of a person’s “actual or perceived [sexual] orientation” or a “person’s […]
In Boston v. Salt Lake City Civil Service Commission, the Utah Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a police officer because she had failed to give a field sobriety test when a situation warranted it and when she failed to properly write a report on a theft charge. The Court rejected the officer’s argument […]
On July 30, 2009, the Department of Transportation issued a new final rule that will become effective August 31, 2009, requiring that all return-to-duty and follow-up drug tests be done pursuant to Direct Observation. Although the rule found at 49 CFR 40.67(b) was originally issued on June 25, 2008, because of intervening court action the […]
In a decision issued July 31, 2009, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that in order for an employee to prevail on a defamation claim against his or her former employer, the employee must show that the employer knew the statements were false or acted in reckless disregard of the truth of the statement. The case, […]
In a decision filed July 30, 2009, the Utah Court of Appeals said that the proper place to appeal a city’s employee appeal board’s determination of the at-will status of one of its employees is a state district court. In Pearson v. South Jordan Employee Appeals Board, the Court stated that despite relevant statutory language […]
On July 23, 2009, the Utah Court of Appeals reversed a decision by the Sunset City Appeal Board’s affirming the termination of a police officer, declaring that Sunset City had failed to give the employee adequate notice when it sent notice only by certified mail. In Becker v. Sunset City, the Court explained that because […]
In LPI Services v. McGee, the Utah Supreme Court ruled on July 21, 2009, that the Labor Commission had discretion to make rules as to what the phrase “other work reasonably available” meant under the permanent total disability provisions of the Workers Compensation statute. The employer of a former employee who had been injured on […]
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appellate court having jurisidiction over Utah, affirmed a district court’s vacation of an arbitrator’s award in a union dispute. While acknowledging that “judicial review of arbitral decisions is among the narrowest known to law,” the Court in Air Methods Corporation v. Office and Professionl Employees International Union […]
