Anne Arundel County cannot avoid arbitration.

That is the decision of Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals. In an unreported opinion dated December 27, 2011, the Court concluded that Teamsters Local 355 has a contractual right to arbitrate a dispute with the County concerning pay raises for Deputy Sheriffs. In 2009, the County had refused to arbitrate the dispute, despite clear language in the parties’ collective bargaining agreement. The Teamsters, through attorneys Keith Zimmerman and David Gray Wright of Kahn, Smith & Collins, P.A., took the County to court. The Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County ordered the County to arbitrate the dispute. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the decision.

The dispute arose in 2009 when the County reneged on its agreement to provide certain wage and pay advancements to the Deputy Sheriffs. The County Executive specifically agreed not to attempt to circumvent the agreement. He then did just that. A dispute ensued and the Union filed a grievance. As was its right, the Union requested that the matter be referred to an independent arbitrator for resolution. The County refused to arbitrate the issue contending that it was not grievable. The Court of Special Appeals disagreed. It wrote: “the grievance was arbitrable and the arbitrator has jurisdiction to hear the dispute, as well as authority to grant the relief sought ….” The Court was clear: “Although an arbitrator cannot order the County Executive or County Council to exercise their budget and appropriation authority … an arbitrator can still award damages if it finds a breach of contract by a municipality or county.” These are the questions that will now be put to an arbitrator.

Keith Zimmerman argued the case on behalf of the Teamsters before both the Circuit Court and the Court of Special Appeals. David Gray Wright was on brief before the Court of Special Appeals.

5 Kahn, Smith & Collins lawyers named as Maryland Super Lawers for 2012!

KSC is proud to announce that the following KSC Attorney’s have been named to the 2012 Maryland Super Lawyers list:

Joel Smtih
FJ Collins
Andrew Kahn
Keith Zimmerman
David Diggs

KSC is also pleased to announce that Todd Schuler has been named a 2012 Rising Star.

The Super Lawyers will appear in Baltimore Magazine’s January 2012 issue. They also will appear online at www.superlawyers.com and in the Maryland Super Lawyers magazine, which will be mailed to Maryland attorneys and the ABA-accredited law school libraries.

Only 5 percent of Maryland attorneys are chosen annually for these lists. The selections for this esteemed list are made by the research team at Super Lawyers, which is a service of the Thomson Reuters, Legal division based in Eagan, MN. Each year, the research team at Super Lawyers undertakes a rigorous multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good-standing and disciplinary check.

“Facebook is open to the world and educators stand in a different position than regular citizens.  They are in a position of trust.  They must work as an example for children. Anything they say and anything they post can be seen by anyone. They have to think more than twice before they post anything because they are setting an example.” Keith Zimmerman recently gave this advice to Baltimore City teachers.  The teachers were attending seminars hosted by the Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU) to help inform teachers about how they should conduct themselves with regard to social media.  Prudence was the prevailing theme.

The seminars prompted a story by ABC2 News.  The story features Zimmerman, BTU officials, teachers, and others.  The story is available on ABC2’s website: “Debate on if students and teachers should be friends on Facebook”.

Zimmerman was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2012 in the field of Labor Law (Unions).  Last year Zimmerman helped the BTU negotiate its landmark contract with the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners.

Kahn, Smith & Collins, P.A. is pleased to announce that  Joel Smith was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2012 in the fields of Entertainment Law – Motion Pictures & Television, Entertainment Law – Music, Labor Law – Unions, Labor Law, Litigation – Labor & Employment and Sports Law - (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.).

Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 41,000 leading attorneys cast almost 3.9 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

It is important to note that the lawyers listed in Best Lawyers have no say in deciding which practice areas they are included in. They are voted into practice areas entirely as a result of the votes they receive from their peers. The subspecialties listed after their names are based on information from a variety of sources.

Since many state bar associations have a board certification process and rules governing legal specialties, please be aware that the practice areas and subspecialties listed in our publications are based on information from the general legal community and that a listed lawyer may or may not be board certified in a specialty or subspecialty. Clients are urged to check a lawyer’s firm web page to determine whether he or she is board certified in the specialty or subspecialty.

From the Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor:

Today is Labor Day. Most countries besides the United States celebrate Labor Day on May 1st, International Workers’ Day—a date that was chosen in part to commemorate the Haymarket riot in Chicago on May 4, 1886.

We know that the first Labor Day celebration in this country occurred on September 5th, 1882, in New York City, and was organized by the Central Labor Union; but there is a debate over whose idea it was in the first place. Labor Day became a national holiday in 1894, partly because it was a convenient way for President Grover Cleveland to appease an angry workforce after he violently broke up a strike.

In 1884, railroad workers in Pullman, Illinois went on strike. The town of Pullman was built for the sole purpose of housing people connected with the Pullman Palace Car Company, from the regular workers to Pullman himself. Everyone in the town worked for the railroad, which dictated their wages as well as their rent. In 1893, the nation went into an economic depression, and workers’ wages were slashed, but they were still working 16-hour days and the company was still taking the same amount for rent out of their paychecks. So Pullman workers went on strike. Railroad workers across the nation who belonged to the American Railway Union joined the strike, refusing to switch trains with Pullman cars on them. Soon anyone who sympathized, union workers or not, joined in the cause, and riots broke out all over. Passengers and mail couldn’t make it west of Chicago.

Grover Cleveland declared that the actions of the workers were criminal, and he sent 12,000 troops to control them. Soon the strike was over, the head of the American Railway Union was sent to prison, and all Pullman workers were required to sign a form saying that they would never strike again. The strike was officially declared over on August 3rd.

Unfortunately for Cleveland, the general public was not too happy with his hard-line stance. So he rushed a Labor Day bill through Congress, and six days after the strike ended, Labor Day was declared a national holiday on the first Monday of September.

These days, only 11.9% of American workers belong to a union, and among private sector workers that number is down to 6.9%. For most Americans, Labor Day has become a time to celebrate the end of summer with a last barbecue or camping trip.

© 2011 American Public Media
480 Cedar Street, Saint Paul, MN 55101
USA

Kahn, Smith & Collins, P.A. is pleased to announce that  Keith Zimmerman was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2012 in the field of Labor Law – Unions (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.).

Keith has been in practice for over 30 years. He represents a variety of public and private employee unions.   For the past 25 years, he has represented the Baltimore Teachers Union.  Last year Keith helped the BTU negotiate its landmark contract with the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners.  Keith also recently helped his clients expand collective bargaining rights for Baltimore County employees.  He has a record of successfully litigating on behalf of unions.

Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 41,000 leading attorneys cast almost 3.9 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

It is important to note that the lawyers listed in Best Lawyers have no say in deciding which practice areas they are included in. They are voted into practice areas entirely as a result of the votes they receive from their peers. The subspecialties listed after their names are based on information from a variety of sources.

Since many state bar associations have a board certification process and rules governing legal specialties, please be aware that the practice areas and subspecialties listed in our publications are based on information from the general legal community and that a listed lawyer may or may not be board certified in a specialty or subspecialty. Clients are urged to check a lawyer’s firm web page to determine whether he or she is board certified in the specialty or subspecialty.

Arbitrator Jerome T. Barrett recently ruled in favor of the Public Safety Professionals of Cecil County, International Association of Fire Fighters(IAFF), Local 4645 in it’s action against the Board of Commissioners of Cecil County, MD.

Cecil County was found to have committed unfair labor practices when negotiating during the spring of 2011 with the County’s paramedics.  Arbitrator Barrett ruled against the County and, as a remedy, ruled that the County was bound by the a one year contract for fiscal year 2012.

A full text version of the ruling can be found here – KSC Cecil County Decision

On July 1, 2011, David Brooks, Op Ed columnist for the New York Times, wrote a piece titled “Smells Like School Spirit.”  He roundly criticized Diane Ravitch’s criticism of the education reform movement and the value of charter schools in public education.  In the July 10, 2011, New York Times, “What to Do to Make Our Schools Better,” Ms. Ravitch responds to Mr. Brooks, readers opine on both Ms. Ravitch’s and Mr. Brooks’ opinions, and Ms. Ravitch is given the last word by responding to each reader’s letter.   The dialogue squarely sets forth the current issues and concerns about public education in the United States, from education reform, to poverty, to testing, to evaluating teaching and learning.  It is well worth the read.  Let me know your thoughts.  Keith Zimmerman  (zimmerman@kahnsmith.com).