Eastbrook Community Schools Corp. v. Eastbrook Education Ass'n

566 N.E.2d 63, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 1764, 1990 WL 260692
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 20, 1990
DocketNo. 34A04-8907-CV-280
StatusPublished

This text of 566 N.E.2d 63 (Eastbrook Community Schools Corp. v. Eastbrook Education Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eastbrook Community Schools Corp. v. Eastbrook Education Ass'n, 566 N.E.2d 63, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 1764, 1990 WL 260692 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

CHEZEM, Judge.

Case Summary

Plaintiff/Appellant, Eastbrook Community Schools Corporation (School Corporation), appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendant/Appellee Eastbrook Education Association (Association), in their action to vacate an arbitration award in favor of Association. We affirm.

Issues

Appellant raises three (3) issues which we restate as follows:

I. Whether the arbitrator’s decision disregarded the Indiana Certified Educational Employee Bargaining Act (CEEBA), Ind. Code. 20-7.5-1-1 et seq., by making a unit determination and whether his decision went beyond his jurisdiction.

II. Whether the arbitrator’s decision should be vacated pursuant to I.C. 34-4-2-13(a)(3), (because he exceeded his authority under the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the parties) and to I.C. 20-7.5-1-4 (because the decision amended, added to and supplemented provisions of the Agreement.)

III. Whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment.

[64]*64Facts

On April 13, 1987, the head basketball coach of Eastbrook High School resigned. The following day, the position of head basketball coach was posted in accordance with Article VI, Section B(l) of the parties collective bargaining agreement, which states:

All vacancies in certified positions occurring in the Corporation shall be posted for a period of ten (10) working days except between July 15 and September 1.

Moe Smedley (Smedley) was selected for the head basketball coaching position; however, there was no teaching vacancy for which Smedley was qualified. Therefore, Smedley was appointed to two additional responsibilities: assistant attendance officer and assistant athletic director. The Association filed a grievance on June 30, 1987, based on the School Corporation’s failure to post and fill the assistant attendance officer and assistant athletic director’s positions in accordance with Article VI, Section B(l) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, supra.

The School Corporation denied the allegations of the grievance on the grounds that:

1. The head basketball coach position had been posted and filled properly under the agreement.
2. The Board had the authority to assign its workload and duties.
3. The duties were assigned as administrative in nature and not subject to the agreement.
4. The duties assigned to Smedley were not the creation of three separate positions but were assigned as additional duties within the prerogatives of the School Corporation in the operation of the school system.

The matter proceeded to arbitration as provided in the party’s Agreement. The School Corporation objected to the arbitration on the ground that the grievance involved a CEEBA unit determination matter which jurisdiction was vested solely in the Indiana Education Employees Relations Board (I.E.E.R.B.) and was not within the jurisdiction of the arbitrator to make such a determination.

At the arbitration hearing, the School Corporation’s business manager and assistant superintendent, John Bragg, testified that the positions were, in the past, “negotiated with the Association both as to the duties involved and pay scale for these jobs.” Rod Ellcessor, former president and the bargaining spokesman for the Association at the time of the arbitration, claimed there was “a binding past practice of posting all extracurricular activity or extra duty slots and that the Assistant Athletic Director is properly placed in that category.” He also testified that although there is no specific mentioning of these positions in the recognition clause of the agreement, in the past when positions such as these opened, the Board specifically came to the Association and bargained for an exception to the recognition clause.1

Following the arbitration hearing, Elliott H. Goldstein, the arbitrator, entered the following award:

1. The grievance is substantively arbi-trable.
[65]*652. The Employer [School Corporation] is required to do the proper posting of the vacant position of Head Boy’s Basketball Coach/Assistant Athletic Director/Assistant Attendance Officer after appropriate bargaining for salary and other related conditions, if such a job is still desired by Management to be filled; and,
3. The three distinct groupings of duties are not separate positions as the Association contends; nevertheless, the entire job configuration falls within work properly covered under the Recognition Clause of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

On September 15, 1988, the School Corporation filed its “Action and Motion to Vacate or Modify Arbitration Award.” The action was venued from Grant Circuit Court to Howard Circuit Court. The Association moved for summary judgment on the complaint, and requested the court confirm the arbitrator’s award. The School Corporation’s motion was denied and the Association’s motion for summary judgment and confirmation was granted. It is from this order that the School Corporation now appeals.

Discussion and Decision

We first note that this is an appeal from a grant of summary judgment. When reviewing a summary judgment, the standard of review is the same as it was for the trial court: whether there was no genuine issue of material fact and whether the moving party was entitle to judgment as a matter of law. Farm Bureau Co-op v. Deseret Title Holding Corp. (1987), Ind.App., 513 N.E.2d 193. We stand in the position of the trial court and consider the same matters. Moll v. South Central Solar Systems (1981), Ind.App., 419 Ñ.E.2d 154. A fact is material for summary judgment purposes if it helps to prove or disprove an essential element of the plaintiff’s cause of action. Delk v. Board of Commissioners of Delaware County (1987), Ind.App., 503 N.E.2d 436.

I.

The first issue raised is whether the arbitrator’s determination was within the bounds of CEEBA and of his jurisdiction. The School Corporation argues the arbitrator made a unit determination outside of the scope of his jurisdiction because the duties assigned to Smedley were primarily supervisory and administrative in nature, therefore, he did not belong in the bargaining unit. We, however, do not agree that this is a unit determination. The basis of this dispute is a disagreement over interpretation of the contract. The School Corporation repeatedly cited sections of the contract as the basis of its claim. The application of the word “certified” in Article VI, Section (B)(1) (“All vacancies in certified positions occurring in the Corporation shall be posted for a period of ten (10) working days except between July 15 and September 1.”) was the main issue, not whether the positions in dispute are within the bargaining unit. The arbitrator was asked to determine whether two (2) additional positions given to Smedley were subject to the posting and negotiation rights of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

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566 N.E.2d 63, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 1764, 1990 WL 260692, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eastbrook-community-schools-corp-v-eastbrook-education-assn-indctapp-1990.