Ermel v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation

470 A.2d 1061, 79 Pa. Commw. 431, 1984 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1115
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 6, 1984
DocketAppeal, No. 2276 C.D. 1982
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 470 A.2d 1061 (Ermel v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation) 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
Ermel v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, 470 A.2d 1061, 79 Pa. Commw. 431, 1984 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1115 (Pa. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge Craig,

John C. Ermel, Jr. appeals from an order of the State Civil Service Commission dismissing his appeal from the action of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (DOT) in furloughing Ermel from his position of Real Estate Specialist Supervisor, regular status.

We must determine whether there is substantial evidence to support the commission’s findings, and if the commission erred as a matter of law in concluding that DOT properly followed the applicable furlough procedures.1

Prom 1969 to 1977, Ermel held the position of Real Estate Specialist IV (General) in DOT, and was [433]*433a member of tbe B-2 meet-and-discuss bargaining unit in American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME). Tbe B-2 unit is comprised exclusively of first level supervisory employees, and is covered by a Memorandum of Understanding between DOT and AFSCME (tbe memorandum).

In June, 1977, the Executive Board of tbe Commonwealth issued a resolution amending tbe Commonwealth’s Compensation Plan and effecting a reclassification of various positions in many Commonwealth departments, including DOT. Tbe purpose of tbe reclassification was to eliminate tbe parenthetical designations in tbe old titles. As a result, Ermel’s position as Beal Estate Specialist IV (General) was reclassified as Beal Estate Appraiser Supervisor, but be remained in tbe B-2 unit.

In August, 1977, DOT reclassified tbe Beal Estate Appraiser Supervisor (BEAS) position into five subcategories, resulting in Ermel’s reclassification to Bight-of-Way Administrator I (BOW I). DOT designated this new position as managerial, thus removing Ermel from tbe B-2 unit and any representation by AFSCME. Ermel did not challenge bis removal from tbe bargaining unit at that point.

In June, 1978, DOT designated Ermel for furlough from bis BOW I position. In lieu of furlough, DOT exercised Ermel’s bumping rights on bis behalf, and, according to furlough procedures set forth in tbe memorandum, Ermel bumped downward to tbe position of Beal Estate Specialist Supervisor (BESS) and back into tbe B-2 bargaining unit. As a result, several DOT employees who held BESS positions at that time were bumped. They filed grievances challenging Ermel’s right, under tbe memorandum, to bump into the BESS position.

[434]*434At the fourth step of the grievance procedure, - Carol Scott, Assistant Supervisor of the Commonwealth Grievance and Arbitration Procedure, Office of Administration, negotiated a pre-arbitration grievance settlement between the Commonwealth and APSCME, denying Ermel the right to bump into the BESS position. The settlement was based on Scott’s interpretation that, because Ermel had not previously held the BESS position, he could not bump into that position, under the procedures set forth in-section 19 of the memorandum.2 DOT reinstituted- Ermel’s 1978 furlough, and Ermel appealed to the Civil Service Commission.

The commission dismissed Ermel’s appeal, concluding that the dispute turned on interpretation of the terms of the memorandum, which the commission viewed as outside its jurisdiction. The commission also rejected Ermel’s argument that DOT had improperly designated BOW I as a management classification. This appeal followed.

The focus of Ermel’s argument is that DOT improperly furloughed him in accordance with the prearbitration grievance settlement because: (1) the settlement was based on the erroneous determination that BOW I was managerial; (2) the settlement was based on the erroneous determination that Ermel had not formerly occupied the BESS position and (3) by its own terms, the settlement did not apply to him. Accordingly, Ermel argues, the settlement misapplied [435]*435procedures set forth in the memorandum in contravention of his rights thereunder.

Initially, we must determine the proper jurisdiction for resolution of this dispute. The commission apparently felt that it normally is without jurisdiction to decide whether a public employee has been properly furloughed where a furlough issue is governed by a labor agreement.3 However, the commission indicated that it does have jurisdiction where, as here, the petitioner alleges that procedures established under the labor agreement have been misapplied, because the misapplication would constitute a non-merit factor and thus render the furlough discriminatory under §905.1 of the Civil Service Act.4

As this court stated in Scuoteguazza v. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, 28 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 403, 368 A.2d 869 (1977):

If the appellant alleges . . . that provisions of the Civil Service Act have not been complied with or have been violated, the matter is clearly one for the Commission’s review. If the appellant alleges only that the terms of a labor agreement relative to furlough procedure have been violated, the case is clearly not one for the Civil Service Commission but for grievance and arbitration under the labor agreement.

Id. at 409, 368 A.2d at 872.

'The question addressed by the commission in the present case thus narrowed to a determination of whether the settlement negotiated by Ms. Scott, under [436]*436which Ermel was furloughed, applied the proper procedure under the memorandum.

At issue are two seniority or bumping procedures. Section 19 of Recommendation No. 30 applies to employees who formerly occupied a position in the B-2 meet-and-discuss unit. The pre-arbitration settlement was based on application of that section. Section 7, on the other hand, applies to employees who presently occupy such a position. Ermel argues that the latter section should have been applied to his furlough. The commission’s inquiry as to which procedure was applicable to Ermel thus centered on whether the ROW I position was or was not within the B-2 unit.

The commission correctly noted that Ermel was mistaken in relying on two Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board decisions arising from the same background as this case. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board v. Commonwealth, 9 PPER §9299 (1978), and Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board v. Commonwealth, 12 PPER §12072 (1981). In those unfair labor practice cases, AFSCME challenged DOT’S authority unilaterally to remove a classification of employees from a bargaining unit without an agreement with the union. The 1978 case held that DOT had no obligation to meet and discuss with AFSCME the reclassification. In the 1981 case, the Labor Relations Board found no substantial evidence on the record before it that the ROW I position was managerial; therefore, there was no premise for the allegation that DO'T’s action had usurped' the board’s authority, and the board dismissed the unfair labor practice charges.

Hence, neither of those cases is authority for the proposition urged by Ermel, that the ROW I position was not in fact managerial, but remained within the [437]*437B-2 bargaining unit. On the contrary, the Labor Relations Board has not addressed the issue of whether ROW I is managerial.

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470 A.2d 1061, 79 Pa. Commw. 431, 1984 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1115, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ermel-v-commonwealth-department-of-transportation-pacommwct-1984.