Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Pa. Court Strikes Down|Tobacco Ban for Officers

(CN) - A Pennsylvania city can't ban its police officers from using tobacco without negotiating with the union, the state Supreme Court ruled.

Ellwood City Borough Council passed a ban on the use of all tobacco products in its building and vehicles.

The police union responded with a charge of unfair labor practice with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, which ruled for the union.

The city took the case to Commonwealth Court, which reversed the board's decision. The court recognized the city's right to promote the general health and welfare of its citizens.

However, Justice Debra McCloskey Todd reversed the lower court's decision, citing the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act and the Collective Bargaining by Policemen and Firemen Act.

"A municipal employer's ban on the use of tobacco products by members of the police labor organization is a mandatory subject of bargaining and is not an inherent managerial prerogative," Todd wrote.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...