– City of Ontario, California v. Quon. This case involved a police officer’s text messages being reviewed by the City. The Court sidestepped the question whether public employees have an expectation of privacy, but in any event unanimously found that the city’s search of a worker’s text messages at issue in the case was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.
– New Process Steel v. National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB due to political battles only had 2 members for a very long time. The NLRB should have 5 members. A majority of the Court held that a two-member NLRB does not have the legal authority to do the business of the board. This decision may have a major impact upon the Board, as there were over 500 decisions issued during the more than 2 years that the Board functioned with only 2 members.
In Utility Workers Union of America v. City of Lakeland, the Second District Court of Appeal, on June 2, 2010, held that the City of Lakeland engaged in an unfair labor practice by altering the status quo pending collective bargaining.
For twenty years, the City has provided annual across-the-board wage adjustments to its employees. In June 2007, members of the City’s electric department elected the Union as their collective bargaining representative. Three months later, in September 2007, the City approved a budget that included a 2.5% wage increase to all nonunionized City employees. The Union, in November 2007, filed an unfair labor practice charge against the City, alleging a violation of section 1.016(1)(a) and (c) of the Lakeland Public Employees Relations Ordinance, which is based on section 447.501, Florida Statutes (2007). The Union asserted the City’s unilateral change in its past practice disrupted the status quo. Lakeland PERC’s General Counsel dismissed the charge, and Lakeland PERC affirmed.
The Court held that the City’s twenty-year practice of administering annual, across-the-board wage adjustments to its employees was a part of the status quo. By not providing newly unionized employees with this wage adjustment, the City failed to maintain the status quo. In doing so, the City committed an unfair labor practice, as defined in section 1.016(1)(a) and (c) of the Lakeland Public Employees Relations Ordinance and section 447.501(1).