Union's right to obtain information

Union's right to obtain information

Schuyler-Chemung-Tioga Educational Asso., 34 PERB 3019

The Public Employment Relations Board concluded that it was an improper practice for the Schuyler-Chemung-Tioga BOCES to refuse to provide the Educational Association with information it said it required in connection with its investigation of a possible grievance.

Although PERB noted that it had ruled that a refusal to provide information may result in a charge alleging “a refusal to negotiate” under Section 209-a.1(d) of the Taylor Law, such a refusal may also constitute a violation of Section 209-a.1(a) of the Act.

In the words of PERB “[t]he [employer's] denial of a reasonable demand for information which is relevant to collective negotiations, grievance adjustment, the administration of a collective bargaining agreement, or the resolution of an impasse ... impairs the union's ability to effectively represent the interests of employees in the unit.

The duty of the employer to provide the union with such information is not unlimited, however. The duty to provide information in the context of a grievance procedure is circumscribed by the “rules of reasonableness,” including the burdensomeness of the request, the availability of the information through other sources, the relevancy of the information and its necessity.

Dismissal of correction officer found guilty of failure to act in situation involving an inmate-on-inmate assault recommended

Dismissal of correction officer found guilty of failure to act in situation involving an inmate-on-inmate assault recommended

Dep’t of Correction v. Connell (in PDF), OATH Index No. 1598/11

OATH Administrative Law Judge Tynia Richard found that a correction officer assigned to a mental observation unit permitted an inmate-on-inmate assault inside a cell, passively stood by as inmates entered and exited the cell, failed to properly perform lock-in/lock-out procedures, failed to report the assault, and failed to obtain medical attention for the injured inmate.

ALJ Richard found “convincing video evidence also showed the officer participating in the assault, although he did not strike the inmate.”

ALJ Richard recommended termination of employment, in part due to the failure of the officer, a long-term employee, to testify and offer an explanation for his actions or any mitigation evidence.

Filing an election of a retirement option

Filing an election of a retirement option

Matter of Leisten, 285 AD2d 897, Motion to appeal denied, 97 NY2d 605

If nothing else, the Leisten decision serves as a reminder that it is the responsibility of the member of the retirement system to file the form designating his or her beneficiary and the form required for the selection of the retirement option he or she desires with the retirement system.

Faced with a terminal illness, David Leisten filed a request for an estimate of retirement benefits which would be payable under the joint allowance-full option, naming his wife, Pearl Leisten, as his intended beneficiary. In response to his request, the New York State Employees' Retirement System [ERS] sent Leisten an estimate of amounts payable under the various retirement options together with a blank option election form that was to be completed and filed with ERS within a specified time. The form specifically noted that if an option election is not timely filed, “the law requires that you be retired under the cash refund contributions option”.

The joint allowance-full option Leisten indicated he wished to elect in his request to take early retirement would have entitled his widow to monthly payments of $880 for the remainder of her life. ERS, however, could not find a completed option election form in its files. Accordingly, ERS told Pearl Leisten that it was bound to apply the cash refund-contribution option, entitling her to receive only a full ordinary death benefit: $49,000.

The court said that “while an employee is authorized to elect from several retirement payout options ... such election must be received and filed prior to the retiree's death to be effective.” As the record contained testimony highlighting the difference between the naming of an intended beneficiary in an early retirement request and the designation of a beneficiary in a legally effective option election, the Appellate Division sustained ERS's decision that Pearl Leisten was only entitled to an ordinary death benefit as supported by substantial evidence.

The lesson here: members must make certain that a timely designation of beneficiary and the benefit option the member wishes upon retirement is on file with the retirement system.