The focus of this article is on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the obligations of judges to all persons who use court services and who need accommodation to do so. The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) for many years has made enforcement of the ADA a major priority. A significant part of the DOJ’s focus is on compliance by state and local governments. Type in “ada.gov” on your search engine and … [Read more...] about Americans with Disabilities Act and the Code of Judicial Conduct
Employment
What Indiana Trial Judges Need to Know about the Affordable Care Act
County contracts and programs govern health care benefits for trial court employees. However, trial court judges in their roles as employers should still know some key things about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-148 § 5505, or “Obamacare,” but most commonly referred to as the Affordable Care Act or ACA. There has been much discussion in the news about employers reducing full … [Read more...] about What Indiana Trial Judges Need to Know about the Affordable Care Act
Dealing with the Difficult Employee
Martin has been working as a probation officer for seventeen years during which time he provided good to commendable service to the court. He and Judge Edwards have seen a lot together and are very comfortable with each other. However, lately all is not well with Martin, and no one knows exactly what or why. Martin has been making errors that are unlike him. His co-worker, Sandra, believes that more than once she has … [Read more...] about Dealing with the Difficult Employee
Should You Have an Employee Handbook?
If a court employee sues regarding a condition of employment, the proper defendant can be the judge of the court, the state, the county or any combination of these depending upon the cause of action. There are counties with excellent employee handbooks and counties whose handbooks are deficient. Even if the court’s county is one with an excellent handbook and a county attorney who is experienced in county employment i … [Read more...] about Should You Have an Employee Handbook?
When the Honorable Judge Has Been Served…Send it to me!
The unpleasant day might arrive when a summons or a notice arrives that names a judge as a defendant. Do not fret, just send it to me! There are four primary types of notices or summons that may land on a judge’s desk: unemployment claims, discrimination charges, notice of tort claims and actual lawsuits. The type of response will depend on the nature of the case or complaint. In every civil case you can count on the … [Read more...] about When the Honorable Judge Has Been Served…Send it to me!