[WEBINAR] Preparing for Changes in the “Vested Rights Doctrine” - Understanding Plan Design Options
[VIDEO] Legal Update: Is the California Rule in Flux?
[VIDEO] Pension Liability by the Numbers
[VIDEO] Perspectives: The Practical Effects of Today's Pension Programs
Deivert v. Zartman and Borough of Northumberland, 2025 WL 83747 (M.D.Pa. 2025) - (Neither a municipality nor a municipal manager had immunity under the Pennsylvania Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act (“PPSTCA”) for the...more
The line between protected political speech and workplace disruption depends largely on who signs your paycheck. Public employees enjoy First Amendment protections that private sector workers lack, but even government...more
A public-school teacher wears a MAGA hat at a training session on cultural sensitivity (Dodge v. Evergreen School District #114, 56 F.4th 767 (9th Cir. 2022)), an actress in a mega-million-dollar film posts controversial...more
The Wyoming Legislature has wrapped up its 2025 session, but not before adopting several new laws governing public employers. Three of these laws were not specifically drafted as employment laws, but will have significant...more
Detschelt v. Norwin School District 23-cv-1402 (W.D. Pa. Dec. 20, 2024). The District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania dismisses complaint filed by school director which alleged that statement issued by the...more
While Ohio municipalities generally do not rely on voted ad valorem property taxes as a primary source of funding, such taxes can serve as a useful part of a municipality’s revenue base, and state law, principally in Ohio...more
In 2006, the Supreme Court’s decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos granted public employers’ broad discretion in regulating their employees’ work-related speech. Before 2006, under the so-called Pickering Connick test, employees...more
Vallecorsa v. Allegheny Cty., No. 2:19-CV-1495-NR, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206720, at *2 (W.D. Pa. Nov. 15, 2022). United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania holds that Allegheny County (“County”) did...more
This week, the Court considers a public employee’s claimed First Amendment right to speak about an investigation into his misconduct, and whether a prior action for contribution under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more
Technology. It is the proverbial blessing and curse that has resulted in an increasing amount of litigation in the courts. One such lawsuit presented the issue of whether the First Amendment provides police officers and their...more
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, 597 U.S. __ (2022) (The United States Supreme Court concludes that a coach praying at mid-field following a high school football game was engaged in private religious expression...more
Employers Should Reevaluate Policies on Religious Expression at Work in Light of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District and Carson v. Makin - With the commencement of school, public youth programs and 2022-23 budget cycles,...more
Public employers have interests that differ from private employers. While both types of employers seek to increase their revenues, public employers have additional concerns that can take priority over short-term budgetary...more
The Supreme Court ruled in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District on June 27, 2022 that a public high school violated the Constitution by restricting a football coach from engaging in “personal” but overt post-game, mid-field...more
The Supreme Court addressed the intersection of the First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Speech clauses as they relate to a public employee’s personal religious expression when done in the public eye. In a 6-to-3...more
The widely reported Supreme Court case Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, No. 21-418 (S. Ct. June 27, 2022) warrants all the attention it has been getting. The Court’s penalty flag against the local Washington school...more
Joseph Kennedy coached football at Bremerton High School, a public school in Washington State. After football games, Kennedy led prayers at the 50-yard line among players, coaches, fans, and, sometimes, politicians. The...more
On Monday June 27, the Supreme Court issued their ruling in the case Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. (We previously reported on this case.) In a 6-3 decision penned by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the conservative majority...more
On June 27, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, No. 21-418, holding that a football coach’s quiet prayers of thanks after three football games were protected under the Free Exercise and...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit addresses a religion-based challenge to a federal-government land transfer and considers whether public-sector employees can obtain refunds of mandatory union fees since deemed unconstitutional. ...more
On April 25, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which we previously reported on. As you may recall, the case involves a high school football coach, Joseph Kennedy, who was...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit addresses the standards for liability under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and rebuffs a pre-enforcement First Amendment challenge to a state law concerning public unions. GABRIEL MORAN V. THE...more
In 2019, we reported on the case of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District involving a football coach at Bremerton High School in Washington state who was placed on administrative leave by his public school district for praying...more
Freedom of Speech. Most Americans seem to agree it is the most fundamental of rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights, and many are quick to cite their First Amendment protections whenever faced with unpleasant...more
On October 6, 2020, in Bennett v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville, No. 19-5818, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a district court’s decision in favor of a public employee who claimed that the city...more