Hortonville Education Ass'n v. Hortonville Joint School District No 1

225 N.W.2d 658, 66 Wis. 2d 469, 1975 Wisc. LEXIS 1674, 88 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3075
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 5, 1975
Docket635
StatusPublished
Cited by50 cases

This text of 225 N.W.2d 658 (Hortonville Education Ass'n v. Hortonville Joint School District No 1) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hortonville Education Ass'n v. Hortonville Joint School District No 1, 225 N.W.2d 658, 66 Wis. 2d 469, 1975 Wisc. LEXIS 1674, 88 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3075 (Wis. 1975).

Opinions

Beilfuss, J.

The issues in this court are:

1. Does Wisconsin law allow the discharge of municipal employees who engage in a strike?

2. Does the action by the Hortonville school board in discharging teachers instead of obtaining a judicial order constitute selective enforcement of the Wisconsin prohibition of the right to strike, thereby denying to the teachers their right to equal protection of the laws?

3. Does the state’s prohibition against strikes by teachers, without provision for binding arbitration and de novo review of reasonableness of punishment, when [479]*479such benefits are provided for other public employees, constitute a violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution?

4. Were the strikers denied due process of law because they were discharged by the Hortonville school board which is not a neutral, impartial and detached decision maker ?

5. Did the action taken by the Hortonville board of education constitute a violation of the open meeting law?

The general rule is that issues not presented to the trial court will not be considered for the first time on appeal. Estate of Scherffius (1974), 62 Wis. 2d 687, 696, 697, 215 N. W. 2d 547; Resseguie v. American Mut. Liability Ins. Co. (1971), 51 Wis. 2d 92, 103, 104, 186 N. W. 2d 236. With respect to constitutional issues, this court had said it may, in its discretion, consider such issues for the first time on appeal if it is in the interest of justice to do so and there are no unresolved factual issues. State v. Morales (1971), 51 Wis. 2d 650, 654, 187 N. W. 2d 841; Bradley v. State (1967), 36 Wis. 2d 345, 359, 359a, 153 N. W. 2d 38, 155 N. W. 2d 564. We believe, in this case, it is in the interest of justice to consider the issues raised as set forth above.

Does Wisconsin law allow the discharge of municipal employees who engage in a strike ?

As to all municipal employees, sec. 111.70 (4) (1), Stats., provides:

“Strikes prohibited. Nothing contained in this sub-chapter shall constitute a grant of the right to strike by any county or municipal employe and such strikes are hereby expressly prohibited.”

As to state employees, sec. 111.89, Stats., provides:

“Strike prohibited. (1) Upon establishing that a strike is in progress, the employer may at his option either seek an injunction or file an unfair labor practice charge [480]*480with the commission under s. 111.84 (2) (e) or both. In this regard it shall be the responsibility of the department of administration to decide whether to seek an injunction or file an unfair labor practice charge. The existence of an administrative remedy .shall not constitute grounds for denial of injunctive relief.
“(2) The occurrence of a strike and the participation therein by a state employe do not affect the rights given to the employer to deal with the strike, including:
“(a) The right to impose discipline, including discharge, or suspension without pay, of any employe participating therein;
“ (b) The right to cancel the reinstatement eligibility of any employe engaging therein; and
“(c) The right of the employer to request the imposition of fines, either against the labor organization or the employe engaging therein, or to sue for damages because of such strike activity.”

The appellants contend that since employers of state employees are specifically given the right to discharge in the event of a strike, while no similar provision applies to municipal employees, that municipal employers are not allowed to discharge striking employees but are restricted to the remedy of injunction.

The respondents cite Millar v. Joint School Dist. (1957), 2 Wis. 2d 303, 312, 86 N. W. 2d 455, for the proposition that:

“A school board has implied power to dismiss a teacher before the expiration of his term of service for good and sufficient cause. ... If a teacher fails to perform his duties under his contract, the board may discharge him from further service.”

They further contend that sec. 111.70 (4) (1), Stats., in no way diminishes that right. We believe they are correct in that contention. Sec. 118.22 (2) provides:

“On or before March 15 of the school year during which a teacher holds a contract, the board by which the teacher is employed or an employe at the direction of the board shall give the teacher written notice of renewal or refusal to renew his contract for the ensuing school year. If no [481]*481such notice is given on or before March 15, the contract then in force shall continue for the ensuing school year. A teacher who receives a notice of renewal of contract for the ensuing school year, or a teacher who does not receive a notice of renewal or refusal to renew his contract for the ensuing school year on or before March 15, shall accept or reject in writing such contract not later than the following April 15. No teacher may be employed or dismissed except by a majority vote of the full membership of the board. Nothing in this section prevents the modification or termination of a contract by mutual agreement of the teacher and the board. No such board may enter into a contract of employment with a teacher for any period of time as to which the teacher is then under a contract of employment with another board.”

The reference to the fact that a teacher may be “dismissed” clearly indicates the existence of the right to discharge. Both Millar, supra, and Richards v. Board of Education (1973), 58 Wis. 2d 444, 460b, 206 N. W. 2d 597, indicate clearly that the term “dismiss” means to remove from employment and not to merely refuse to renew a contract.

Furthermore, the power of the board to discharge a teacher for “just cause” is clearly preserved in the master contract 3 between HEA and the school district.

From the statutes, the cases cited, and the contract, we conclude the school board did have the power to discharge the teachers who engaged in the prohibited strike.

The appellants contend the action by the Hortonville school board in discharging the teachers instead of obtaining a judicial order constitutes selective enforcement of the Wisconsin prohibition of the right to strike, thereby denying to the teachers their right to equal protection of the laws as guaranteed by the state and federal constitutions.

[482]*482The appellants argue that this is the first known instance in Wisconsin where striking teachers have been discharged. They assert that the usual procedure is for the school board to seek an injunction, and that the deviation from this practice in this case amounts to selective enforcement of the law and a denial of equal protection.

The respondents, in argument, deny this is the first instance of discharge because of strike activity. They also urge that there is an unresolved factual dispute involved, i.e., what is the normal procedure in the case of teacher strikes ? For the purpose of this opinion, we will assume the factual allegation of the appellants is correct.

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Bluebook (online)
225 N.W.2d 658, 66 Wis. 2d 469, 1975 Wisc. LEXIS 1674, 88 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3075, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hortonville-education-assn-v-hortonville-joint-school-district-no-1-wis-1975.