LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The union representing the Louisville Metro Police Department wants a judge to weigh in on a legal battle that has pitted officers against Metro Council.
River City FOP Lodge 614, which represents almost all LMPD officers, has filed a lawsuit asking a judge to declare that council "is not empowered to participate in collective bargaining" and that its approval is not needed to authorize future contracts between the union and the city, according to court documents filed Thursday.
Council has long voted on the contracts, including a one-year deal that was approved Nov. 5 and gave more than 1,000 officers raises. Some council members said they won't approve future agreements, however, unless they include more thorough reforms.
River City FOP Lodge 614 and Mayor Greg Fischer reached the new collective bargaining agreement Oct. 2, a deal that extends the current contract to June 2021. In addition to the pay raise, the contract also includes changes in benefits and provisions from the city’s $12 million settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor, such as a $5,000 housing incentive for police officers who live in areas they patrol.
A few weeks before council approved the contract, union President Ryan Nichols sent a letter to Fischer arguing that, by law, the contract doesn't need council's approval because both the FOP and Fischer's office had signed off on it already.
"The approval of Metro Council is not necessary, or even appropriate, to make the new agreement effective," Nichols wrote in the letter.
Metro Council President David James promptly asked Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell’s office for an opinion on the FOP’s position.
In the county attorney’s opinion, Civil Division Director Sarah J. Martin found that there’s nothing in state law to conclude that "the General Assembly intended to remove the Metro Council from its longstanding role in approving collective bargaining agreements.
"Accordingly, we believe a court would find that any collective bargaining agreement becomes valid and enforceable only upon approval by the Metro Council."
In fact, she wrote, the mayor’s office and the FOP "explicitly incorporated" the local ordinance into the agreement, and as such “acknowledged an obligation” to send the contract to the council to review and accept it.
In its lawsuit, however, an attorney for the union, David Leightty, argues that "KRS 67C.402(4) provides that the mayor of Louisville Metro or his designated representative — and not the Council — 'shall represent the consolidated local government in collective bargaining with the labor organization.'"
Leightty also argues that the opinion of the County Attorney's Office contradicts KRS 67C.414(2), which says, "An agreement between the consolidated local government and a labor organization shall be valid and enforced under its terms when entered into in accordance with the provisions of this section and signed by the mayor of the consolidated local government or the mayor's representative."
In a statement after council approved the short-term contract, Fischer said city officials will "focus a long-term contract that includes the reforms necessary to address the challenge of police legitimacy and trust.
"That includes work already underway to diversify LMPD to better represent the larger community it serves and to foster a culture that promotes transparency and accountability – including changes to policies on search warrants and seizures, and random drug testing," Fischer said.
Read the lawsuit in full below:
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