Judge rules the State of Nebraska was not in contempt for remote work actions after CIR ruling

[Omaha Steve]

Justin Hubly, executive director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, leads a noon-hour news conference Dec. 7, 2023, in Lincoln regarding Gov. Jim Pillen’s executive order mandating state employees return to in-peson offices by Jan. 2. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

By: Aaron Sanderford - February 5, 2024 3:28 pm

LINCOLN — The State of Nebraska did not knowingly violate a Commission on Industrial Relations order when managers notified some state employees they were terminating previously approved work-from-home or remote-work agreements.

Lancaster County District Court Judge Andrew Jacobsen ruled that the state did not “willfully” disregard the CIR order telling it to stand pat on Gov. Jim Pillen’s return-to-work executive order by ending arrangements approved before Pillen issued his order.

The Nebraska Association of Public Employees, or NAPE, had sought to hold the state in contempt of court for violating the December CIR order and notifying employees that their previously approved arrangements to work remotely were being rescinded.

Jacobsen, in a six-page order, said the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services and other state agency leaders had met and tried to figure out what the order allowed and did not. They also sought clarity from the CIR in a formal filing.

FULL story: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/02/05/state-of-nebraska-not-held-in-contempt-for-remote-work-actions-after-cir-ruling/