Bay County Board of County Commissioners v. Florida Public Employees Relations Commission

365 So. 2d 767, 100 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2053, 1978 Fla. App. LEXIS 17159
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedDecember 1, 1978
DocketNo. JJ-417
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 365 So. 2d 767 (Bay County Board of County Commissioners v. Florida Public Employees Relations Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bay County Board of County Commissioners v. Florida Public Employees Relations Commission, 365 So. 2d 767, 100 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2053, 1978 Fla. App. LEXIS 17159 (Fla. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinions

BOYER, Acting Chief Judge.

Appellant-Bay County Board of County Commissioners (County) appeals an order rendered by appellee-Florida Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) certifying appellee-Teamsters Local # 991 (Teamsters) as the exclusive collective bargaining agent for a designated group of county employees.

In 1975, Teamsters filed a representation petition with PERC. An election was held and Teamsters received a majority of the votes. After several proceedings, PERC found that the Teamsters engaged in campaign misconduct which warranted setting aside the election. A new election was ordered. On the day that PERC issued its notice of election, the County filed a motion to dismiss along with several other motions. The motion to dismiss petition alleged that Teamsters had failed to file the required annual financial report with PERC. PERC did not act upon that motion nor the others and three weeks later a second election was held. Again, Teamsters received a majority of the votes. The County raised several objections to the election which were overruled. The County’s pending motions, including the motion to dismiss, were also denied.

Although Teamsters was properly registered before the first election, during the time between the two elections, the registration of Teamsters lapsed. Consequently, although the County’s objections to the election were overruled, Teamsters was denied certification until it was properly registered. When Teamsters updated its registration, PERC entered the order here appealed finding that Teamsters was in compliance with the registration statute and certifying Teamsters as the exclusive bargaining representative for the group of County employees.

The County urges that PERC erred in overruling its objections to the election and in failing to set aside the election.

The primary thrust of the County’s argument relates to PERC’s failure to require Teamsters, as a condition precedent to holding the election, to comply with F.S. 447.305(1), (2) which states in pertinent part:

“447.305 Registration of employee organization. — (1) Every employee organization, prior to requesting recognition by a public employer for purposes of collective bargaining, or prior to submitting a petition to the commission for purposes of requesting a representation election, shall adopt a constitution and bylaws and shall register with the commission by filing a copy thereof, together with a report in a form prescribed by the commission, and an amended report whenever changes are made, which shall include:
“(d) The current annual financial statement of the organization.
“(2) Every employee organization shall file annually with the commission a financial report, signed by its president and treasurer or corresponding principal officers, containing the following information in such detail as may be necessary accurately to disclose its financial condition and operations for its preceding fiscal year and in such categories as the commission may prescribe:
“(c) Salary, allowances, and other direct or indirect disbursements, including reimbursed expenses, to each officer and also to each employee who, during such fiscal year, received more than $10,000 in the aggregate from such employee organization and any other employee organization affiliated with it or with which it is affiliated or which is affiliated with the same national or international employee organization;”

Further, subsection (6) of that statute provides:

“(6) An employee organization which is not registered as provided in this section is prohibited from requesting recognition by a public employer or submitting a petition requesting a representation elec[769]*769tion. This prohibition shall be enforced by injunction upon petition of the commission to the appropriate circuit court.”

Teamsters and PERC urge that F.S. 447.-305(6) only requires registration as a condition precedent to requesting recognition by a public employer or submitting a petition requesting a representation election. However, we construe the statute in its entirety and more broadly. The first five subsections of F.S. 447.305 contain numerous requirements. Subsection (6) does not stand alone but specifically refers to the other subsections by the use of the words “as provided in this section”. It is obvious that the legislature intended the information required of employee organizations under the statute to be available to interested parties during and preceding the election.

This case ■ is a good example of an instance where information concerning the financial records of a union needed to be available to the public employees before those employees could make an informed free choice in the election. Several affidavits in the record indicate that the employees sought information concerning union dues and salaries and expenses paid to the union business agent. That information was not available because Teamsters had failed to file its annual financial report. Contrarily, the amount of money spent by the County in its anti-organization campaign was fully available to the employees. In fact, the County alleges that its expenditures for labor relations was a primary campaign issue. We find that the financial information improperly withheld by virtue of Teamsters’ failure to file was relevant, under the facts of this case, to the election. Further, Teamsters’ failure to file was timely raised by the County and was not something brought up after the election was over as a technicality.

PERC and Teamsters rely on Laborers International Union of North America v. Public Employees Relations Commission, 336 So.2d 450 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). However, that case is distinguishable.

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Related

City of Ocoee v. CENTRAL FLA., ETC.
389 So. 2d 296 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1980)
N. Brevard v. Fla. Pub. Emp. Rel. Com'n
392 So. 2d 556 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1980)
Brevard Community College v. FLORIDA PUB. EMP. REL. COM'N
376 So. 2d 16 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
365 So. 2d 767, 100 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2053, 1978 Fla. App. LEXIS 17159, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bay-county-board-of-county-commissioners-v-florida-public-employees-fladistctapp-1978.