Recent Developments
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Court Upholds Constitutional Challenge to Public-Safety Employee Furloughs Imposed by County
n a case filed on behalf of five labor organizations representing three thousand public-safety employees, including sworn police officers, sworn firefighters and paramedics, deputy sherriffs, correctional officers, and police civilians, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland has declared 10-days of furloughs unilaterally imposed as a cost-savings measure by Prince George's County, Maryland to be an unconstitutional impairment under the Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The County had defended the unpaid furloughs as necessary because of budget shortfalls caused by the downturn in the local housing market; the unions claimed that the furloughs were neither reasonable nor necessary in light of the County's fund reserves and other economic circumstances. An appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has been filed, and the firm will be defending the trial court's judgment