Guidelines followed by courts in reviewing a challenge to a disciplinary decision made after a hearing held pursuant to compulsory arbitration

Guidelines followed by courts in reviewing a challenge to a disciplinary decision made after a hearing held pursuant to compulsory arbitration

2017 NY Slip Op 07122, Appellate Division, Second Department

Education Law §3020-a mandates compulsory arbitration in the event an educator challenges disciplinary charges that have been filed against him or her by the appointing authority.

Petitioner was found guilty of charges of misconduct filed pursuant to Education Law §3020-a after a hearing. The penalty imposed: termination from the position. Petitioner then initiated an action in Supreme Court pursuant to CPLR Article 75 seeking a court order vacating the arbitrator's determination. Supreme Court, however, confirmed the arbitration award and Petitioner appealed that court's ruling to the Appellate Division.

The Appellate Division affirmed the lower court's decision explaining:

1. Where the obligation to arbitrate arises through a statutory mandate such as Education Law §3020-a, the determination of the arbitrator is subject to closer judicial scrutiny than it would otherwise receive.

2. An award resulting from a compulsory arbitration proceeding must have evidentiary support and cannot be arbitrary and capricious.

3. The arbitrator's decision must be rational or have a plausible basis.

4. The reviewing court "should accept the arbitrators' credibility determinations, even where there is conflicting evidence and room for choice exists."

The Appellate Division held that the arbitrator's determination had evidentiary support and was not arbitrary or capricious. Further, the court found that the arbitrator's determination "was in a form sufficient to enable [Petitioner] to understand its basis so as to permit an intelligent challenge and adequate judicial review."

The decision also notes that Petitioner "failed to present evidentiary proof of actual bias or the appearance of bias on the part of the arbitrator and thus failed to establish entitlement to vacatur of the arbitrator's award  on the ground of partiality."

As to the penalty imposed by the Arbitrator, termination, the Appellate Division, citing Pell v Board of Education of Union Free School District No. 1, 34 NY2d 222, said that the penalty "does not shock the conscience" and sustained it.

* §3020-a(2)(a) of the Education Law requires the appointing authority to provide the individual against whom disciplinary charges are served with a written statement specifying (i) the charges in detail and (ii) the maximum penalty which will be imposed by the board if the employee does not request a hearing while §3020-a(2)(f) provides that "The unexcused failure of the employee to notify the clerk or secretary of his or her desire for a hearing within ten days of the receipt of charges shall be deemed a waiver of the right to a hearing."

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2017/2017_07122.htm

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following audits and reports were issued during the week ending October 14, 2017

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following audits and reports were issued during the week ending October 14, 2017 
Source: Office of the State Comptroller

Click on text highlighted in color  to access the full report 

Some NY Schools Not Reporting Bullying or Harassment 

Many New York schools fall short when it comes to protecting students from harassment and discrimination based on gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, according to an auditby New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. 

Former Ontario Town Water Superintendent Charged With Covering Up Failure to Fix Water Leaks 

Former Ontario Water Superintendent Rodney Peets was arraigned in Wayne County on charges of offering a false instrument for filing, tampering with a public record and official misconduct after a year-long investigation by the State Comptroller’s Office, the New York State Police, and Acting Wayne County District Attorney Christopher Bokelman.

Resolving an issue of statutory interpretation in the event the statutory language is ambiguous

Resolving an issue of statutory interpretation in the event the statutory language is ambiguous

Feinman v County of Nassau, 2017 NY Slip Op 07110, Appellate Division, Second Department

The plaintiffs [Plaintiffs] in this action had worked at the Office of the Nassau County Attorney from 2002 or 2003 until 2009 and prior to that time had worked for the City of New York or the State of New York. They alleged that they "had been wrongly charged contributions to their health insurance premiums" under color of Nassau County Ordinance No. 543-1995. Plaintiff's petitioned Supreme Court for summary judgment seeking a refund of contributions paid by them and a declaration that they were entitled to receive health insurance coverage without contributions to the cost of premiums.*

Supreme Court determined that the plain language of Ordinance No. 543-1995 required the County to pay the full cost of Plaintiffs' health insurance premiums. The court said that:

1. §4.1(a) of the Ordinance provided that, "[f]or all employees hired prior to January 1, 2002, ... the County shall pay the full cost of the health insurance premium," but "[f]or all employees hired on or after January 1, 2002 and earning a salary greater than thirty thousand ($30,000.00) dollars the employee shall contribute" specified sums towards health insurance premiums;"

2. §5.2 of the ordinance provides that "prior public service to the State and/or a municipal subdivision thereof 'shall be deemed as service to the County for purposes of the benefits provided in this Ordinance,' and an employee 'shall be deemed to have an initial employment date with the County as of the original employment with the State and/or municipal subdivision thereof;'" and

3. After addressing how to credit prior public employment in the event there had been an interruption in public employment, the Ordinance states "All such prior public service to the State and/or a municipal subdivision thereof shall be considered as actual completed service to the County for purposes of this Ordinance and such . . . employee shall be deemed to have a initial employment date that reflects all prior public service form [sic] which appropriate benefits otherwise provided in this Ordinance shall be computed."

Nassau appealed the Supreme Court decision and its granting summary judgment to Plaintiffs. The Appellate Division affirmed the lower court's ruling, explaining:

a. §5.2 of the Ordinance does not mandate consideration of an employee's prior public service only for those benefits provided for in the ordinance which reference an employee's "actual completed service" to the County; it also mandates such consideration in determining an employee's "initial employment date" for the purposes of the benefits provided for in the ordinance;"

b. Accepting Nassau's construction of the Ordinance would render the provisions concerning an employee's "initial employment date" superfluous and, citing Universal Metal & Ore, Inc. v Westchester County Solid Waste Commission, 145 AD3d 46, said "[C]ourts must give effect to the wording of a statute without rejecting any words as superfluous, and must harmonize related provisions in a way that renders them compatible;"

c. When presented with a question of statutory interpretation, a court's "primary consideration is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the Legislature" and courts  must first look to a statute's "plain language, as that represents the most compelling evidence of the Legislature's intent;" and

d. In the event the statute is ambiguous, the construction given to it by the administrative agency responsible for its administration should be sustained by the courts unless [i] the agency's interpretation is irrational, unreasonable, or inconsistent with the governing statute" except [ii] when a question is one of pure legal interpretation of statutory terms, deference to the agency is not required  and in such instances, courts should construe clear and unambiguous statutory language [so] as to give effect to the plain meaning of the words used.

In consideration of the Plaintiffs' prior public service, the court found that they all had effective "initial employment date[s]" with the County prior to January 1, 2002. Accordingly, the ordinance entitled them to have the County pay the full cost of their health insurance premiums, and the Supreme Court properly granted their motion for summary judgment on the declaratory judgment and breach of contract causes of action.

The Appellate Division then remitted the matter to the Supreme Court for the entry of a judgment declaring that [1] Nassau was not authorized to require Plaintiffs to pay any portion of the cost of the health insurance coverage provided to them by the County of Nassau and [2] Nassau is to reimburse Plaintiffs for any such payment made by Plaintiffs on or after April 12, 2004.

* Plaintiffs conceded that their damages were those damages incurred on or after April 12, 2004.

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2017/2017_07110.htm

The judicial test for determining if a grievance involving a term or condition set out in a collective bargaining agreement is arbitrable

The judicial test for determining if a grievance involving a term or condition set out in a collective bargaining agreement is arbitrable

Matter of the Arbitration between Lewis County and CSEA Local 1000, AFSEME, AFL-CIO, Lewis County Sheriff's Employees Unit #7250-03, Lewis County Local 825, 2017 NY Slip Op 06743, Appellate Division, Fourth Department

The Lewis County Sheriff appointed one of three part-time dispatchers in the collective bargaining unit represented by CSEA Local 1000, AFSEME, AFL-CIO, Lewis County Sheriff's Employees Unit #7250-03, Lewis County Local 825 [Local 825] to the position of full-time dispatcher. Local 825 filed grievances on behalf of the two part-time dispatchers not selected for the full-time position, alleging that these two dispatchers had more seniority and experience than the part-time dispatcher selected for the full-time position by the Sheriff.

Lewis County denied the grievances and Local 825 filed demands for arbitration.* In response, Lewis County filed a CPLR Article 75 petition seeking a court order permanently staying the arbitration contending that the grievances were not the proper subject of arbitration." Supreme Court granted Lewis County's petition for a permanent stay of arbitration with respect to D.H.'s grievance and Local 825 appealed the ruling to the Appellate Division.

The Appellate Division said it agreed with Local 825 that Supreme Court erred in granting Lewis County's petition, explaining in City of Johnstown [Johnstown Police Benevolent Assn.], 99 NY2d 273, the Court of Appeals set out a two-pronged test to determine "whether a grievance is arbitrable."

Applying the first prong, usually referred to as "the may-they-arbitrate' prong," the court determines whether there is any statutory, constitutional or public policy prohibition against arbitration of the grievance." If the court concludes that arbitration is not so prohibited, it proceeds and considers "the second prong, known as "the did-they-agree-to-arbitrate' prong," in which the court examines the collective bargaining agreement [CBA] "to determine if the parties have agreed to arbitrate the dispute at issue".

As Lewis County did not claim that the arbitration of D.H.'s grievance is prohibited because of a statutory, constitutional or public policy prohibition against arbitration of the grievance, the Appellate Division said that it was only concerned applying the second prong of the test set by the Court of Appeals in Johnstown Police, the "did-they-agree-to-arbitrate' prong,"

With respect this second test, the court said "[i]t is well settled that, in deciding an application to stay or compel arbitration ... the court is concerned only with the threshold determination of arbitrability, and not with the merits of the underlying claim." Citing Matter of Van Scoy [Holder], 265 AD2d 806, the Appellate Division said that "[w]here, as here, there is a broad arbitration clause and a reasonable relationship 'between the subject matter of the dispute and the general subject matter of the parties' [CBA], the court should rule the matter arbitrable, and the arbitrator will then make a more exacting interpretation of the precise scope of the substantive provisions of the [CBA], and whether the subject matter of the dispute fits within them."

In this instance the grievance concerned the determination of the appointing authority with respect to which one of three employees should be given the full-time position. Holding that "a reasonable relationship exists between the subject matter of the grievance and the general subject matter of the CBA," the Appellate Division ruled that "it is for the arbitrator to determine whether the subject matter of the dispute falls within the scope of the arbitration provisions of the [CBA]."

* The demand for arbitration was withdrawn with respect to one of the part-time dispatchers. The Local's demand to compel arbitration on behalf of the remaining part-time dispatcher, D.H., survived.

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2017/2017_06743.htm