Blog
- Firm Partner, Colin M. Lynch, Secures Multi-Million Dollar Arbitration Victory for Newark Teachers
Oct 4, 2017
Representing the Newark Teachers Union, Local 481, AFT, AFL-CIO (“NTU”), Firm Partner, Colin M. Lynch, successfully arbitrated the Newark Public Schools’ failure to comply with its obligations under its 2012 collective negotiations agreement. At issue were numerous requirements of the Agreement, including payment of retroactive salary longevity payments to teachers and staff reaching longevity during the two-year period between expiration of the prior Agreement and the 2012 Agreement; payment of retroactive salary to those on...Read More - U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Appeal of Anti-Union Organizations Challenging the Right of Public
Sep 29, 2017
On September 28, 2017, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, 851 F.3d 746 (7th Cir. 2017), which threatens to upend 40 years of history allowing public employee unions to require non-members to pay agency fees. This appeal is a key part of the efforts of a number of anti-union organizations to eviscerate the strength of public sector unions and their members. In 1977, the Supreme...Read More - Supreme Court Rejects PERC Decision on Salary Increments
Aug 23, 2017
In the Appellate Division’s decision in the consolidated cases involving Atlantic County and PBA Local 243, FOP Lodge 34 and PBA Local 77 and Bridgewater and PBA Local 174, the Appellate Division addressed a public employer’s duty to pay salary step increments after a contract has expired and before a new contract has been negotiated. The Appellate Division reversed PERC in a very strong decision and concluded that a public employer must maintain the status...Read More - Law Division Holds That Employees' Right to Vested Accumulated Sick Leave Survives Expiration o
Jun 22, 2017
Firm Partner Richard A. Friedman along with Associate Genevieve M. Murphy-Bradacs recently obtained a judgment on behalf of several teaching staff members in the case of Barila et al . v. Cliffside Bd. Of Educ., BER-C-161-16. Plaintiffs were all teachers and/or former teachers employed by the Defendant, the Board of Education of Cliffside Park. The collective negotiations agreement governing the terms and conditions of plaintiffs’ employment provided that any teacher, who, as of the end...Read More - Appellate Division Holds That Schedule Change Does Not Bar Award of Overtime
May 16, 2017
The Zazzali Firm recently scored a victory in the Appellate Division which upheld an arbitration opinion awarding a substantial amount of overtime compensation as a result of a schedule change. The court’s unanimous decision in Middletown Township v. Middletown Township Police SOA does not announce any new principles. However, it does reaffirm that municipalities may be required to compensate members for any overtime worked as a result of a new schedule implemented without agreement of...Read More - New Jersey Supreme Court Vacates Arbitration Award in Favor of Tenured Teacher
Mar 1, 2017
On February 21, 2017, the New Jersey Supreme Court announced its decision in Bound Brook Board of Education v. Glenn Ciripompa, Dkt. No. A-57-15. Glenn Ciripompa, a tenured high school math teacher, was brought up on tenure charges that alleged first, that he electronically sent and received inappropriate sexual content using his District-issued laptop and iPad, and second, that he engaged in harassing behavior towards his female co-workers. The charges were heard before an arbitrator,...Read More - Third Circuit holds that workers in their 50s can sue under Federal age discrimination law when an e
Jan 23, 2017
In Karlo v. Pittsburgh Glass Works, LLC, 2017 BL 6064, 3d Cir., No. 15-3435, issued January 10, 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), which protects individuals over the age of forty from age discrimination, allows plaintiffs to proceed with a disparate-impact claim whereby only a “subgroup” or segment of employees over the age of forty are alleged to have been disfavored relative...Read More - Appellate Division Holds That Disability Retirees Are Not Required to Pay Health Insurance Contribut
Jul 5, 2016
In Brick Twp. PBA Local 230 & Michael Spallina v. Twp. of Brick, issued on June 21, 2016, the Appellate Division held that law enforcement officers who retire on an ordinary or accidental disability pension, and who did not have twenty (20) years of pensionable service as of June 28, 2011 when Chapter 78 became effective, are not required to contribute toward their insurance coverage, provided that the collectively negotiated agreement mandates retiree health coverage...Read More - Not Eligible for Overtime Pay? Starting This December, You May Be. The Department of Labor Issues
May 22, 2016
On May 18, 2016, the Department of Labor announced its new rule updating overtime regulations greatly expanding the number of employees eligible to receive time and a half overtime pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. This long anticipated rule change promises to provide a much needed boost in pay to millions of American workers who, until now, have been deemed ineligible for overtime wages. In 1975, more that 60% of salaried workers were...Read More - Arbitrator Rules that Union May Negotiate and Enforce Agreement for Suspension with Pay for Officer
May 12, 2016
In the recent arbitration case of City of Newark and The Police Superior Officers’ Association, Inc., NJSBM Case No,: 15-0282, (December 1, 2015), Arbitrator Perry O. Lehrer required Newark, a civil service municipality, to pay a suspended police captain while he awaited the disposition of the criminal charges pending against him that led to his suspension. The Arbitrator determined that an officer’s receipt of payment while on suspension due to pending criminal charges is a...Read More