1. What was the significance of the Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority case to municipal firefighters?

2. What is the maximum number of hours per week that the typical employee can be required to work without triggering FLSA overtime?
3. How is overtime compensation calculated?
4. Under the FLSA, how many hours can a firefighter be required to work without triggering the overtime requirements in a
o 7-day period?
o 14-day period?
o 28-day period?

5. What is the maximum number of hours of compensatory time that a firefighter may accrue? How does this differ from non-public safety public employees? How about a private sector employee?

6. Is it possible for an employee to take FMLA time off one day at a time, or must the employee take the entire time off as a block?

7. What are the three factors that the Supreme Court has identified as part of the balancing test for reasonableness in determining if public employees can be required to submit to drug testing?

8. Can a career firefighter serve as a volunteer firefighter in his or her own department?

9. What are the two types of sexual harassment?

10. Can a heterosexual man commit sexual harassment of another heterosexual man?

11. Can a fire department have different grooming and uniform requirements for men and women without violating discrimination laws?

12. What is the statute of limitations on filing a sexual harassment allegation?

13. Identify at least two laws that could apply to a woman who is terminated or otherwise discriminated against because she becomes pregnant.

14. What factors contribute to a sexually hostile work environment?

15. Can a firefighter refuse to work at a fire station that provides fire protection to a casino on the grounds that it is against his or her religious beliefs to go to a casino?

Discussion Questions (2 points)

1. At what point does a member who is required to be on call become eligible to be compensated for his or her on-call time? Should the frequency of being recalled be the determining factor? Should the length of time that the member has to respond be the determining factor?

2. Can a fire department prohibit a firefighter from wearing a religious headdress while on duty? What other issues come into play?

3. Why would some fire departments choose to become equal employment opportunity employers, affirmative action employers, or both? Would every fire department choosing to become an equal employment opportunity employer or affirmative action employer have to adopt the same goals, or would it vary from department to department?

Research Question (4 points)

1. Locate the NC state family medical leave law. Compare and contrast that law to the federal FMLA.