Transcript Chapter 14- Rights of Criminal Justice Employees



As stated by Peak (2012) “Law and litigation
affecting criminal justice employees can
arise out of federal and state constitutions,
statutes, administrative regulations, and
judicial interpretations and rulings” (p.
297).
What causes these problems are often poor
hiring and training decisions, disciplinary
issues and the response to disciplinary
issues within the department, and discharge
(firing of an employee without good cause,
for example).




Fair Labor and
Standards Act
Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964
and its
amendments
Equal Pay Act
The Pregnancy
Discrimination Act
of 1978



Age Discrimination
in Employment Act
Americans with
Disabilities Act of
1990
Section 1983



Recruitment and hiring- the things that gets
most departments into trouble with the
courts here are such things as having tests
that do not meet the job requirements.
Tests that tend to have an adverse impact on
protected classes are also subject to a future
lawsuit.
Discrimination can also arise in promotions
and job assignments, so the administration
needs to be careful here about the
qualifications posted for a protector position.



It is important to recognize that there is nothing
in the law that forces an employer to hire or
retain incompetent personnel.
What is it illegal is to treat people differently
because of their age, gender, sex, or other
protected status. It’s also illegal to deny equal
employment opportunities to such persons.
The manager or administrator should be well
versed in these areas and they should receive
departmental training on the issues involved on a
regular basis.


Age issues- These issues have raised their
heads when departments in the past tried to
have mandatory retirement ages for officers.
The Supreme Court has rejected mandatory
retirement plans for municipal firefighters
and police officers.
Today agencies would be hard pressed to
turn people away because of their age or
refuse such things as promotions based upon
someone being too old for the position.



Affirmative action plans give preferred treatment
only to affected groups when all other criteria (such
as education and skills) are equal.
One of the primary cases in regards to reverse
discrimination is the Bakke v. Regents of University
of California.
The Supreme Court has stated that a plan must
have a remedial purpose to correct past inequities
and there must be a manifest imbalance or
significant disparity to completely foreclose
employment opportunities to non-minority or male
candidates.


Property rights- our fourteenth amendment
states that “No state shall make or enforce
any law which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the U.S.; nor shall
any state deprive any person of life, liberty,
or property without due process of law; nor
deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the law”.
In order to have a property right employees
must have a legitimate claim of entitlement.


This act regulates minimum wages and
requires overtime compensation in the
private and public sectors.
Basically public safety employees can accrue
a maximum of 240 hours of compensatory
or comp time, and the act also provided
that an employer must pay time and one
half for hours worked over 40 per week.






Freedom of Speech
Searches and
Seizures
Self-Incrimination
Religious practices
Sexual misconduct
Residency
requirements





Moonlighting
Misuse of firearms
Alcohol and drugs
in the workplace
Sexual harassment
American with
Disabilities Act



Written notice of the nature of any
investigation, a summary of the alleged
misconduct, and the name of an investigating
officer.
The right to representation of their choosing
during any stage of questioning or a hearing.
In regards to the polygraph the officer may
refuse a polygraph is the complainant refuses
to also submit to a polygraph also.

Unwelcomed verbal or physical conduct
based on race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or
retaliation constitutes harassment when:
◦ The conduct is sufficiently severe to create a hostile
work environment, or
◦ A supervisor’s harassing conduct results in a
change in an employment status or benefits (such
as demotion, termination, failure to promote, and
so on).

To be eligible for FMLA benefits, an employee
must:
◦ Work for a covered employer
◦ Have worked for a covered employer for at least 12
months (and have worked at least 1,250 hours
during that time)

A serious health condition means an illness,
injury, impairment, or physical or mental
condition that involves either any period of
incapacitation or treatment, or continuing
treatment by a health care provider.



The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was
signed into law in 1990.
Under the law, criminal justice agencies may not
discriminate against qualified individuals with
disabilities.
Employers are to provide reasonable
accommodation to disabled persons. A
reasonable accommodation can include
modifying existing facilities to make them
accessible, job restructuring, part-time or
modified work schedules, acquiring or modifying
equipment, and changing policies.