Recent Developments

A Massachusetts civil service employee is entitled to a hearing prior to being suspended or terminated. This right is reflected in General Laws Chapter 31, Section 41. Nearly all city employees and many police officers and fire fighters employed by towns are protected by civil service. Section 41 guarantees that an employee facing discipline will receive notice and an explanation of the charges prior to the hearing and an opportunity at a hearing to respond personally or through counsel to the charges.

Adjunct faculty at Bentley University overwhelmingly voted “Union Yes” casting their ballots to join Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 509 and its Faculty Forward project. Attorney Patrick Bryant advised and represented Local 509 throughout the organizing drive.

Where a union negotiates a term or benefit in a a collective bargaining agreement, an employer generally cannot change that benefit or even force a union to discuss a change prior to negotiations for a new contract. This rule promotes stability in labor relations, by preventing an employer from forcing a union to keep negotiating terms of employment.

A recent Civil Service Commission decision affirms why Massachusetts police officers commit a "cardinal sin" when being deliberately untruthful about critical facts related to law enforcement. In the attached case, a 17-year police officer for the Town of West Bridgewater was fired for a pattern of perjury, lying, harassment, and conduct unbecoming a police officer.

By a two-to-one margin, full-time lecturers at Tufts University, who are not tenure track, voted overwhelmingly to form their union today, casting ballots to join Faculty Forward and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 509. The victory is the second one within a week for Local 509's Faculty Forward initiative, following recent election by part-time adjuncts at Boston University. Attorney Patrick Bryant advised Local 509 throughout the organizing and election process, as he has for all major higher education organizing initiatives in Boston by SEIU and Local 509.

Boston University adjunct professors voted to form their union by an overwhelming 2-to-1 margin, casting ballots to join Faculty Forward – a project of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 509. Pyle Rome Ehrenberg, PC Attorneys Patrick Bryant, Kate Shea David Rome provided legal advice to the organizing effort.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has long treated police officer and fire fighters differently from other public employees in terms of where they may live. For decades, state law has forced police officers and fire fighters to live within 15 miles of their employer. Police officers and fire fighters who work in civil service communities -- which include all Massachusetts Cities and many towns -- arguably faced even tighter restrictions. Civil service police and fire arguably must live within 10 miles of their employer and also within the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board
agreed with Attorneys Kate Shea and James Hykel that a SEIU Local 509 member must be made whole for a three-day suspension issued in violation of state law.

A neutral arbitrator has ruled that City of Waltham Fire Chief acted arbitrarily in transferring a fire fighter from his preferred station, based purely upon a "no trespass" notice issued by citizen against the fire fighter. Attorney Patrick Bryant represented Waltham Fire Fighters, Local 866, IAFF.

Here, next-door neighbors of a veteran Fire Fighter had a long-running complaint about the fire fighter's house. Several years ago, they completed a No Trespass notice at the Waltham Police Department. This notice never resulted in restrictions on where or how he could work as a Fire Fighter.

A neutral arbitrator has determined that the Town of Bourne lacked just cause to issue a two-shift suspension of a fire fighter for taking a moment to assist his wife with a medical test in a fire station bathroom. Attorney Patrick Bryant represented Local 1717, IAFF at the hearing.