In July of 2012, attorney Nelson Hall won an important victory for firefighters in a work-related testicular cancer case. Hall proved to the Workers’ Compensation Board that the insurance company had failed to rebut the presumption that the firefighter’s testicular cancer resulted from his employment as a firefighter. This is the first in a string of cancer […]
Oregon’s Domestic Partnership Law Successfully Defended
Margaret Olney successfully represented Intervenors Basic Rights Oregon in a lawsuit brought by a conservative religious foundation to qualify a referendum for the ballot that would have repealed Oregon’s domestic partnership law. We successfully defended the state’s signature verification process before the U.S. District Court and the Ninth Circuit, resulting in the domestic partnership law […]
Arbitrator Requires City to Reinstate Fire and Police Pension Reversion Benefits
The City of Portland Fire and Police Retirement Fund had a rule which provided that when an alternate payee (such as an ex-spouse) died before the retiree, the alternate payee’s payments would revert to the retiree. The Board of the pension fund eliminated the reversion benefit, and the Portland Police Commanding Officers Association filed a […]
Teacher Dismissal Overturned
A teacher had attempted to commit suicide off-duty by driving her vehicle into the back of her estranged husband’s unoccupied truck. Despite the fact that the teacher received only minor injuries and was soon released to return to work, the District terminated her employment. Tom Doyle represented her before an administrative panel. That panel ordered […]
FLSA Action: Two Cases
Approximately 80 Paramedics, Dispatchers, and EMTs filed claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act for wages for training time required to maintain EMT certifications. Hank Kaplan represented the employee class, pursued the case in Federal Court and won a ruling that the employer was in violation of the FLSA and owed two years of back […]
Proposed Termination of Special Education Teacher Reversed
The District sought to terminate a long-time and successful special education teacher for paperwork errors. The Association argued that termination was too severe a penalty for problems that were the natural consequence of severe underfunding. After Attorney Margaret Olney provided the District with information from other educators about the District’s inconsistent policies and the prevalence […]
Disciplinary Action Reversed
An employee suffering from Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) covered conditions was disciplined for alleged excessive absenteeism. Aruna Masih, representing the employee through her union, took grievances on behalf of the employee to arbitration under the union’s contract with the employer and won reversal of the disciplinary action.
School District Ordered to Compensate Teachers for Increased Student Contact Time
This is a case dating back to 2007 in which the Association challenged the District’s unilateral decision to increase student contact time by approximately 30 minutes per day, when it adopted a new trimester schedule. The Association argued that the District was required to bargain over the decision; the District claimed that the increase in […]
Oregon Taxpayers United
Greg Hartman was lead counsel for the Oregon Education Association in a lawsuit against Oregon Taxpayers United as well as Oregon Taxpayers United Education Foundation, two organizations founded and operated by Bill Sizemore. After a three-week jury trial a Multnomah County jury found those defendants liable for racketeering as a result of which a judgment […]
Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board Affirms Second Firefighter Cancer Claim
Nearly two years to the day after an Oregon firefighter was diagnosed with testicular cancer the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) affirmed an Administrative Law Judge’s finding that the firefighter’s cancer was work–related. Attorney Nelson Hall of Bennett Hartman Morris & Kaplan represented the firefighter. The firefighter filed a workers’ compensation claim with SAIF in 2010 […]