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Ruling on termination pay also challenged
John Humphries, a candidate for state superintendent of public instruction, continues some of his duties with the Dodgeville School District under a consulting contract approved by the local school board the same day he submitted his letter of resignation.
The union representing rankand-file Milwaukee police officers is appealing two recent rulings that went against it in federal court on the issues of residency rules and pay for fired officers.
Two federal judges ruled against the Milwaukee Police Association in separate cases late last year.
In the first, U.S. District Judge Charles Clevert dismissed a case filed by the union alleging the city was illegally withholding pay to officers fired by the police chief.
In an unrelated case, U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller ruled against the union in its challenge of the city’s new rule that says employees must live within 15 miles of Milwaukee or risk being fired.
Both rulings were appealed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals last month.
In the residency case, two Milwaukee police officers and the union argued the city’s residency rule, when applied retroactively, violates officers’ constitutional rights to due process.
For decades, all city employees, with few exceptions, had to live within Milwaukee boundaries. In 2013, the state Legislature passed a law that undid all such strict residency requirements but did allow for cities to require certain employees, including police and firefighters, to live within 15 miles of city limits. Milwaukee did not adopt a new rule but instead continued to enforce its residency rule.
The police union sued. The state Supreme Court sided with the Legislature and the police union that the state law blocked the city’s historic residency requirements.
After that ruling, the city adopted the 15-mile zone limit and said employees outside that limit could be fired, but the city allowed employees six months to move into the zone and gave a temporary exemption based on financial hardship.
Stadtmueller rejected the argument that the city rule was implemented retroactively, citing a 1970s case that says such a rule is not retroactive because it gives employees a chance to move before risking losing their job.
In the other case, Clevert rejected the union’s argument that Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn violated the rights of officers by cutting off pay when the chief fired them.
The lawsuit was filed by Christopher Manney, Rodolfo Gomez, Daniel Vidmar and the union. Manney was fired by Flynn for failing to follow procedure preceding the fatal shooting of Dontre Hamilton. Gomez was fired after he was charged with beating a prisoner. He was acquitted by a jury. He was later indicted in federal court and pleaded guilty. He received a year in prison. Vidmar was fired for stealing a bike from police inventory.
Fired Milwaukee officers used to receive full pay and benefits until their appeals were exhausted, which typically took months or even years.
In 2009, a law was enacted that cut off pay at termination in Milwaukee.