Cases — February 7th through 13th

Discrimination/Retaliation*Farris v. Garden City, Kansas (10th Cir., February 9, 2016) (affirming dismissal because Farris failed to sufficiently allege he was a qualified individual with adisability or that he suffered intentional discrimination)Workers Compensation/Occupational Safety and Disease*Johnson v. Colvin (10th Cir., February 10, 2016) (affirming the judgement of the district court upholding the Commissioner’s denial of benefits […]

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Cases — January 25th through 31st

Labor Unions M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett (U.S., January 26, 2015) (vacating the judgment of the Sixth Circuit with instructions to employ “ordinary principles of contract law” to provisions regarding retired employees)  Discrimination and Retaliation Meyers v. Eastern Oklahoma County Technology Center (10th Cir., January 28, 2015) (affirming summary judgement in the absence of […]

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Cases November 10 through 22

Johnson v. City of Shelby, Mississippi (U.S., November 10, 2014) (summarily reversing summary judgment based upon petitioners’ failure to invoke 42 USC 1983 in their complaint, citing the federal rules’ short, plain statement language) Alarid v. Colvin, Acting Commissioner (10th Cir., November 21, 2014) (affirming denial of social security benefits despite severe impairments, as Alarid […]

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Cases for the week of October 19th

Mendez v. Colvin, Acting Commissioner (10th Cir., October 21, 2014) (affirming denial of benefits) Silva v. Colvin, Acting Commissioner (10th Cir., October 21, 2014) (affirming denial of social security benefits: res judicata, no due process violation for notice in English without Spanish translation)Sumrall v. Merit Systems Protection Board (10th Cir., October 23, 2014) (affirming dismissal […]

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Tenth Circuit: County Employees Have Constitutional Claims When County Failed to Place Employee’s Contract on Agenda

In Borde v. Board of County Commissioners, the Tenth Circuit Court upheld a trial court’s order denying immunity to County Commissioners for violating former employees’ due process rights when, among other things, they failed to put on the agenda of the meeting that they would be considering the employment contract of the employees.  Stating that […]

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Tenth Circuit: No Claim When Deputy Quit Rather than Accept Reassignment

In Lauck v. Campbell County, the Tenth Circuit upheld a district court’s ruling that dismissed a case against a sheriff’s department brought by a deputy after he was reassigned to the Civil Process Division.  Although the deputy claimed that his reassignment constituted a demotion, because his pay and rank were the same before the transfer, […]

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The Utah Court of Appeals Reverses City’s Termination Decision for Failure to Give Adequate Notice.

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 […]

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May Employers Be Forced to Allow Employees to Store Weapons on Employer Property?

In Ramsey Winch Inc. v. Henry, the Tenth Circuit (the federal court having jurisdiction over Utah) ruled last week that a district court had erred when it held that a newly enacted Oklahoma statute making it a criminal offense for employers to prohibit employees from storing firearms in their vehicles on company parking lots was […]

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Does a Utah Governmental Employee Have a Right to Stay in Current Job Position?

The federal appellate court having jurisdiction over federal questions arising in Utah, the Tenth Circuit, issued a decision on January 6, 2009, delineating the scope of the rights that an employee employed by a governmental entity may have in staying in the same position that he or she has historically had. The case, Potts v. […]

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