Public Employee Legal Rights/Employer Responsibilities: Workplace Scenarios
Apply concepts from chapter two (Legal Rights and Responsibilities: Laws Governing the Workplace) to five scenarios. Please see the attachment and/or look below for the scenarios and assignment instructions.
Use information from chapter two in the textbook and Week 1 Lectures to justify your responses, respond to each of the following scenarios in a minimum of six (6) complete sentences. Assignment will be graded on your ability to apply course concepts to substantiate your assumptions and findings and writing quality. Responses that are off the cuff without applying the legal standards and case law discussed in the text and lectures (i.e. how you would have responded before the lecture and reading class material) will allow you to earn a maximum of half credit. Note that all the scenarios take place in public agencies. As discussed in the text, public employees have less rights than they do as private citizens but more rights than employees in the private sector since government is the employer. Therefore, there is always going to be a balance.
Legal Scenario #1:
The attorney assigned to represent your department in a litigation matter has learned from opposing counsel that one of the managers you supervise is e-mailing the opposing counsel (external party) information that will be detrimental to the departments case.In fact, the opposing counsel has received some internal confidential attorney-client privileged communications, which employees are strictly prohibited from sharing with outside parties.
The IT department has the capability to provide you with copies of e-mails sent and responded to from any employee.You will need copies of the alleged e-mail correspondence to prove wrongdoing and pursue discipline in this particular case.
Do you, as a manager, have a right to retrieve these e-mails or is this considered personal property of the employee?What factors have you considered in reaching these conclusions? (NOTE: This pertains to privacy issues/unreasonable searches pp. 69-70).
Legal Scenario #2:
You have long suspected that one of your data processing clerks, Lynn, is under the influence of alcohol during work hours. She is always chewing gum and wears excessive perfume, so it is impossible to detect the alcohol by smell. There are no specific performance problems, however, sometimes she appears to be drowsy. When co-workers have approached her about this issue, she has blamed her drowsiness on her allergy medication. Today, she stumbled into a co-workers desk, which she attributed to her clumsiness. Lynns direct supervisor, Dan has asked your permission to take her in to the organizations medical provider for a mandatory drug test. How do you respond?
Legal Scenario #3:
NOTE: This scenario is based off of an actual incident with the City of La Mesa (CA).Brenda is a dispatcher with for a municipal police department. Using her own e-mail account and Facebook page, Brenda posted several comments that had racial overtones. For example, in response to the case involving former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling (tape recorded making racial comments about African-Americans), Brenda posted: There is no such thing as freedom of speech for white people in this country anymore why is it that blacks can say the most vile and disgusting things toward white people and themselves and never a word is said. The double standard is sickening. We used to be able to have the freedom to think, say and to have whatever opinion we felt .no matter how ridiculous and stupid.
In another instance responding to a news article describing a murder suspect as an African-American male wearing a green shirt, sagging pants and white underwear exposed and dreadlocks Brenda posted, I think the clothing description says it all. Do you think by the description alone this was an upstanding hardworking citizen? NOT! Black gang member with an attitude
Discuss whether the dispatcher be disciplined for these actions which took place outside of the workplace within the context of the balancing test discussed in the text (pp. 62-63) and lecture.
Legal Scenario #4:
You are one of the sergeants in your Police Departments Gang Unit. The Police Chief, Sheriff and DA are holding a press conference (which you are unable to attend) to address the communitys concern about the recent increase in gang shootings. An announcement is also made about the deployment of additional gang units and new vertical prosecution strategies with the goal of obtaining greater penalties for repeat offenders. One of your detectives leaves work (without permission), attends the press conference and speaks with a reporter about the poor morale in the gang unit, as well as the fact that you have wrongly accused him of poor performance. Interestingly enough, he has never discussed these matters directly with you.
Based on case law, can the employee invoke his free speech rights in this forum? As you supervisor, can you discipline him for this or any other action given the information provided? How did you reach this conclusion?
Legal Scenario #5:
You are a manager in your Countys Public Works Department. One of your project managers, Matt, is very involved in several of the Infrastructure/Transportation organizations involved in the No on Prop 6 Campaign in preparation for the November 2018 General Election. Proposition 6 is a statewide referendum that would repeal SB 1 (Road Repair and Accountability Act) which the legislature approved earlier this year leveraging 12 cents per gallon on gasoline and 20 cents per gallon on diesel as well as raising the annual registration fee for all CA motorists. Matt has placed a small campaign sign in his cubicle. Matt also has brochures that describe the campaigns position and voter registration forms on his desk. When you approach Matt about the fact that cannot engage in campaign activity in the workplace, he swears that he is only discussing this with employees during their breaks, so it is no big deal. What is your response and how did you reach this conclusion? [NOTE: The Hatch Act discussed in the text is only for Federal Government Employees states have little Hatch Act or Government Code Sections that regulate the Activity for State and Local Government Employees here is the link to Government Code Section 8310-8317].
