City of Philadelphia v. Commonwealth

592 A.2d 823, 140 Pa. Commw. 322, 1991 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 322
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 4, 1991
DocketNo. 1748 C.D. 1990
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 592 A.2d 823 (City of Philadelphia v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Philadelphia v. Commonwealth, 592 A.2d 823, 140 Pa. Commw. 322, 1991 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 322 (Pa. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinions

PALLADINO, Judge.

The City of Philadelphia (City) appeals an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (common pleas court), affirming an order of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (Board). The Board concluded that City violated Section 1201(a)(8) of the Public Employees Relations Act (PERA)1 by requiring Jacque Whaumbush (Employee) to meet the City’s height and weight standards as a precondition to his being reinstated pursuant to an arbitration award. We reverse.

Employee, a City prison corrections officer and a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union (AFSCME), received notice from the su[325]*325perintendent of prisons that by being absent without leave for 5 consecutive days, Employee had abandoned his position. Employee filed a grievance, proceeded to arbitration, and received the following award:

[T]he grievant shall be reinstated within ten (10) calendar days of the City’s receipt of this Award.
The period of his separation from service shall be treated as a disciplinary suspension, without pay.

Hearing Transcript, Joint Exhibit 1 (Award of Arbitrator) at 1. At the time the arbitration award was issued, Employee had been separated from his employment for ten months. No appeal was taken from the arbitration award.

When Employee became available for reinstatement one month later, City required him to submit to a physical examination under Philadelphia Civil Service Regulation 9.1411 which provides:

An employee to be reinstated following absence from work due to layoff, leave without pay, military leave, or resignation

(Emphasis added.) Because Employee exceeded the maximum weight limit for a person his height, the examining physician did not recommend approval of his reinstatement and Employee was not reinstated.

[326]*326AFSCME, on Employee’s behalf, filed unfair labor practice charges against the City with the Board. AFSCME was given a hearing. The hearing examiner issued a proposed decision that City had violated Section 1201(a)(8) of PERA and ordered City to reinstate Employee with back pay.

City filed exceptions to the proposed decision with the Board. The Board concluded that City had violated Section 1201(a)(8) of PERA and ordered Employee’s reinstatement with back pay from the date Employee became available for reinstatement. City appealed to the common pleas court, which took no additional evidence, thereby limiting its scope of review to a determination of whether the Board’s findings are supported by substantial evidence or whether the Board’s conclusions drawn from the findings were reasonable and not capricious, arbitrary, or illegal. St. Joseph’s Hospital v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, 473 Pa. 101, 373 A.2d 1069 (1977). The common pleas court affirmed.

On appeal to this court, City raises one issue: whether City committed an unfair practice by requiring Employee to meet the height and weight requirements as part of a Regulation 9.1411 physical examination prior to reinstatement. The well-established law of this Commonwealth is that, where an appeal is taken from a court of common pleas decision reviewing a Board order as to unfair labor practices, this court’s scope of review is limited to a determination of whether the findings of the Board are supported by substantial evidence and whether the conclusions drawn from those findings are reasonable and not capricious, arbitrary or illegal. Delaware County Solid Waste Authority v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, 125 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 155, 557 A.2d 795 (1989); Amalgamated Transit Union, Division 85 Appeal, 61 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 207, 433 A.2d 578 (1981); Giovinazzo v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, 52 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 426, 415 A.2d 1267 (1980).

[327]*327City argues that Regulation 9.1411 mandates that all civil service employees must pass a medical examination before they are reinstated if they have been absent from employment for six months or more.3 City asserts that “[Employee’s] return to work after an eleven month disciplinary suspension should not give him greater rights than other people covered by Regulation 9.1411.” City contends that the Board erred by concluding that Regulation 9.1411 does not apply to Employee.

AFSCME argues that the Board enforced the arbitrator’s award according to its terms. AFSCME states that the arbitrator neither explicitly or implicitly conditioned Employee’s reinstatement on his passing a medical examination. AFSCME asserts the Board correctly concluded that City improperly imposed its own conditions on Employee’s reinstatement.4

When considering an unfair labor practice charge, the Board must determine: 1) if the award exists; 2) if the appeal procedure available to the party under the rule has been exhausted; and then 3) whether the party has failed to comply with the provisions of the arbitrator’s decision. State System of Higher Education v. Pennsylvania Labor [328]*328Relations Board, 107 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 151, 528 A.2d 278 (1987).5 We must determine whether the Board’s interpretation of the arbitrator’s award is supported by the record, violative of the rights of the aggrieved party or contrary to existing law. Id.

The Philadelphia Civil Service Regulations apply to all officers and employees of the City, with exceptions not relevant here. Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, 351 Pa. Code §§ 7.7-300 — 7.7-303. Under Regulation 9.1411, an employee, who is to be reinstated to physically demanding employment, must submit to a physical examination. Obviously, this is necessary to insure that the employee can physically perform his prospective duties without injury to himself, co-workers or others. It would be absurd for this court to conclude that the City must ignore an applicant’s actual physical condition, even obvious physical inability to perform prospective duties, merely because the applicant’s reinstatement is directed by an arbitrator.

In the present case, the arbitrator directed that Employee be reinstated to a prison corrections officer position.

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Related

Florian v. State Civil Service Commission
832 A.2d 1171 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2003)
Zorica v. AFSME District Council 33
686 A.2d 461 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
592 A.2d 823, 140 Pa. Commw. 322, 1991 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 322, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-philadelphia-v-commonwealth-pacommwct-1991.