City of Philadelphia v. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5

985 A.2d 1259, 604 Pa. 267, 2009 Pa. LEXIS 2792, 187 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2938
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 29, 2009
Docket38 EAP 2007
StatusPublished
Cited by50 cases

This text of 985 A.2d 1259 (City of Philadelphia v. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme 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. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5, 985 A.2d 1259, 604 Pa. 267, 2009 Pa. LEXIS 2792, 187 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2938 (Pa. 2009).

Opinions

OPINION

Justice BAER.

We granted allowance of appeal in this case to consider whether the Commonwealth Court expanded improperly the limited scope of review applicable to an Act 1111 grievance [273]*273arbitration by holding that an arbitrator violated the City of Philadelphia’s procedural due process rights when the arbitrator precluded the City from presenting any evidence because of the City’s failure to comply with a duly issued subpoena. After careful consideration, we agree with the Commonwealth Court that the arbitrator violated the City’s due process rights. Thus, the Commonwealth Court did not err when it overturned the Act 111 award at issue herein, and accordingly, we affirm.

This case involves a male police officer for the City of Philadelphia, Jason Breary (Grievant). In June of 2001, a female police officer reported to the department that Grievant had sexually assaulted her. After the female officer reported the incident, the Philadelphia Police Department Internal Affairs Division (IAD) commenced an investigation into the accusations and, in the course of doing so, interviewed several members of the police department. At the conclusion of the investigation, IAD referred the matter to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, which subsequently filed criminal charges against Grievant.

Concurrent with the filing of the criminal charges, the police department formally notified Grievant of the charges against him, gave him an opportunity to respond (which he declined to do), informed him that he was suspended without pay for thirty days, and that the department intended to terminate his employment. This notification was provided in the presence of Grievant’s immediate superiors, the IAD investigator, and a representative from Appellant, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge Number 5 (FOP). Consistent therewith, Grievant was terminated on December 13, 2002. The FOP, on behalf of Grievant, and pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the City and the FOP, appealed the termination to a neutral arbitrator from the American Arbitration Association (AAA). The FOP contended that the termi[274]*274nation was without cause and thus violative of the CBA. The grievance was then held in abeyance, pending final disposition of the criminal charges filed against Grievant.

The Philadelphia Municipal Court convicted Grievant of all charges filed against him on September 2, 2003. Grievant filed an appeal demanding a trial de novo in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. That court, on July 28, 2005, found Grievant not guilty on all charges, thus terminating all criminal action against him. Subsequently, a notice of hearing before the AAA was issued to both the FOP and City, setting the grievance arbitration hearing for July 10, 2006.2 On May 18, 2006, the arbitrator, pursuant to a request by the FOP, issued a subpoena requiring the City to provide:

[A]ny and all documents relating to the discipline imposed upon [Grievant], including but not limited to, Forms 75-18, investigation reports, citizen complaints, witness statements, Notices of Disciplinary Action (Suspension, Intent to Dismiss and Dismissal), documents reflecting actions taken by and recommendations made by the Police Board of Inquiry (“PBI”), transcripts or tape recordings of proceedings before the PBI, and all other documents that refer or relate in any way to the aforementioned discipline.

The FOP demanded that the subpoenaed documents be produced by the July 10 hearing.3

The City arrived at the hearing with eight witnesses to present during its case-in-chief, but without the demanded documents. Counsel for the FOP informed the arbitrator of the City’s failure to honor the FOP’s subpoena. The deputy [275]*275City Solicitor representing the City responded that he was unaware of the document requests. The FOP then orally petitioned the arbitrator to sanction the City by precluding the presentation of any evidence that would have been provided pursuant to the subpoena.

The arbitrator sua sponte continued the matter until July 25, 2006, and indicated that he would hear oral arguments on the record, concerning the sanctions when the hearing resumed.4 Meanwhile, counsel for the City discovered that the subpoena had not been complied with due to a clerical error, and immediately transmitted all of the subpoenaed documents in the City’s possession to Grievant.5 When the arbitration resumed on July 25, the arbitrator first heard oral arguments, on the record, concerning the FOP’s motion for sanctions.

During arguments, the FOP averred that, given the internal nature of disciplinary proceedings in the Philadelphia Police Department, when a grievance is filed to challenge an officer’s termination or suspension, the City, at least initially, retains sole and exclusive possession of the relevant documents, reports, and transcripts. The FOP submitted that, while prior practice had formerly been to request documents and the like informally through correspondence addressed to the City, the City had recently changed its stance regarding arbitration discovery, and was requiring subpoenas for all information. Despite the City’s change in position, the FOP contended that, in this case, as well as other Act 111 arbitrations between the parties, the City had continuously refused to comply with formal discovery requests.

The FOP then argued that, given the finality of Act 111 arbitration, “it is absolutely and positively critical that the City [276]*276comply with requests for documentation.” Notes of Testimony (N.T.), Jul. 25, 2006, at 8. The FOP contended that its members suffer extreme prejudice when the FOP is forced to defend them without the discovery that is their right as a matter of basic due process. To stop these abuses from happening repeatedly, the FOP asserted, the arbitrator should preclude the City from presenting any testimony or evidence based on materials subject to the subpoena.

The City countered that, based upon the clerical error,6 counsel had no knowledge of the subpoena until the July 10 hearing, and upon being told of it, immediately corrected the problem. The City further stated that there had been settlement negotiations in the weeks leading up to the July 10 hearing, and the FOP’s counsel made no mention of the failure to comply with the subpoena. Moreover, the City argued the FOP could have filed a motion to enforce the subpoena with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas prior to the hearing, rather than waiting, then asserting prejudice, and requesting the imposition of severe sanctions. The City then noted that neither the FOP nor Grievant had been prejudiced by the error given that the FOP received the documents two weeks before the July 25 merits hearing, rather than on July 10, as it had originally requested. Accordingly, while acknowledging the error, the City contended that preclusion of all evidence subject to the subpoena would amount to a constructive dismissal of the arbitration, and was not a proper remedy.

The arbitrator disagreed and granted the FOP’s request that the City be precluded from presenting any evidence that was subject to disclosure under the subpoena.

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Bluebook (online)
985 A.2d 1259, 604 Pa. 267, 2009 Pa. LEXIS 2792, 187 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2938, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-philadelphia-v-fraternal-order-of-police-lodge-no-5-pa-2009.