About This Course

A promotion to a supervisory position is an invitation to enter the world of personnel management. This course will provide attendees with the knowledge necessary to recognize the most common and costly personnel liability issues confronting supervisors in public safety. 

Far too many supervisors are learning about these challenges through the process of trial and error—at great expense to the agencies and themselves. In this course, federal and state statutes and case law will be utilized to illustrate the potential pitfalls of employee relations in public safety administration and the means by which those liability risks can be managed.

This course is designed to prepare public safety supervisors to take preventative steps to limit supervisor liability, maintain organizational standards and protect employee rights under the law.

  • Making legally defensible hiring decisions.
    • Long-term liability associated with “bad hires.”
    • Failure-to-hire liability.
    • Legally defensible job requirements.
  • Discriminatory discipline.
  • Retaliation liability.
  • Performance evaluations—are they helping or hurting us?
  • Confronting Sexual Harassment.
    • Sexual harassment misconceptions.
    • Harassment policy components.
    • Agency obligations when investigating harassment complaints.

  • Disability discrimination and reasonable accommodation.
  • Light duty, lawsuits and officer safety.
  • Progressive discipline policies.
  • Officer termination and the liabilities incurred by the failure to act.
  • Ending employment through separation agreements.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Before you begin...

    • Before you begin...

    • Supervisor Liability for Law Enforcement Workbook

  • 2

    Day 1

    • Day 1: Section 1

    • Day 1: Section 2

    • Day 1: Section 3

    • Day 1: Section 4

    • Day 1: Section 5

    • Day 1: Section 6

    • Day 1: Section 7

Instructor

Director, Dolan Consulting Group

| Attorney Matt Dolan

Matt Dolan is a licensed attorney in the State of Illinois, who specializes in training and advising public safety agencies in matters of labor and employment law. His practice experience focuses on employment discrimination claims brought under federal law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"). He received his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from DePaul University and his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Matt serves as a public safety instructor with Dolan Consulting Group. He has trained and advised thousands of public safety professionals throughout the United States in matters of legal liability related to personnel management.