State and municipal public employees in New York State have the right to negotiate terms and conditions of employment which are typically set out in a collective bargaining agreement [CBA]* pursuant to Article 14 of the Civil Service Law [typically referred to as "The Taylor Law]. Such individuals may also have rights provided by statute or regulation.
Typically the collective bargaining agreement contains a mandatory grievance process the CBA and rarely provides employees with the authority to enforce the terms and conditions set out in the CBA beyond the negotiated grievance process.*
In this decision the Appellate Division pointed out that "Unless the contract provides otherwise, only when the union fails in its duty of fair representation can the employee go beyond the agreed grievance procedure and initiate litigation involving a contract issue directly against the employer".
Citing Matter of Obot [New York State Dept. of Correctional Services], 89 NY2d 883, the Appellate Division noted that allegations that an employer has breached the collective bargaining agreement are contract claims that may not be resolved in an Article 78 proceeding as "the proper mechanism is initiating a plenary action alleging both breach of contract by the employer and breach of the duty of fair representation by the union". In the words of the Appellate Division: As the employee's claim arises solely under the CBA, the employee was also required to follow the path laid out in the Appellate Division's decision in Ambach**
* On occasion such an agreement may issued in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding.
** Ed. Note: However, as the Appellate Division held in Amorosano-LePore v Grant, 56 AD3d 663, the employee's exhaustion of administrative remedies is not required where so doing would constitute "an exercise in futility".
Click HERE to access the Appellate Division's decision.