Public Sector Woes Part III: Public Sector CBAs & Unilateral Change

As readers may know, I have been doing a series of reviews/commentaries based on the Winter 2012 ABQ Journal of Labor & Employment Law, which is largely devoted to the recent travails of public sector collective bargaining.  One article, by Stephen F. Befort, asks why is unilateral change somehow more acceptable or possible in the public sector.   

Exhaustion of Remedies & Employment Handbooks

This summer, in Lucero v. Board of Regents of the Univ. of New Mexico, NMHSC, 2012-NMCA-055 (cert. den.), the Court of Appeals concluded that an employee alleging breach of an employee handbook must exhaust the grievance process outlined in that handbook.

Recent Employment Law Decisions--Fees Shifting, Exhaustion and Preclusion

My arbitration, mediation and ALJ practice is booming these days, as is my guardian ad litem (GAL) practice.  As a result, I am woefully behind on my blogs, with a pile of items to review and write up.  I'm not sure how the really prolific--or even moderately prolific--bloggers do it, once their practice picks up.  In any event, here is a belated summary of recent New Mexico employment law cases.

Big News: NLRA Preempts State Law Claims of Termination for Union Activity

In a recent New Mexico case, the Court of Appeals held--not surprisingly to regular labor practitioners--that federal labor law preempts state law claims based on an allegation that a supervisory employee was improperly terminated from employment due to employer's suspicion that the employee was engaged in union-organizing activities. Humphries v. Pay and Save, Inc., 2011-NMCA-035, cert. not applied for.  To the labor practitioner, it is only surprising that the state law claims were pursued at all.