Panther Valley School District v. Panther Valley Education Ass'n

28 Pa. D. & C.4th 338, 1996 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 388
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Carbon County
DecidedJanuary 11, 1996
Docketno. 95-1076
StatusPublished

This text of 28 Pa. D. & C.4th 338 (Panther Valley School District v. Panther Valley Education Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Carbon County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Panther Valley School District v. Panther Valley Education Ass'n, 28 Pa. D. & C.4th 338, 1996 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 388 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1996).

Opinion

LAVELLE, P.J.,

This is an appeal by Panther Valley School District pursuant to 42 Pa.C. S. §933(b) and 42 Pa.C.S. §§7302(b) and (d) from an arbitrator’s award sustaining a grievance of Harry Ever-hart, and ordering him reinstated.

Everhart has been a school teacher employed by school district as a science teacher for 25 years. This case began with a parents’ complaint against Everhart for making inappropriate sexual remarks and gestures while teaching their son’s science class during the 1993-94 school year. (Attached as an addendum to this opinion are district’s exhibits 6 and 7, which is a list of the alleged remarks and descriptions of the gestures.) School District Superintendent, Dr. Joseph Dispenziere, on May 24,1994 wrote to Everhart that he was suspended pending a hearing before the school board.

By letter dated June 3, 1994, school district notified Everhart that a hearing would be held on June 14, 1994 before the Panther Valley School Board to determine whether he should be dismissed or reinstated. Pursuant to section 11-1133 of the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949, Everhart notified school district that he waived a hearing before the school board and that he elected to litigate this dispute by and through the grievance procedure of article XV, section 1 of the collective bargaining agreement.

A hearing was held before Arbitrator Patrick McFadden on November 11, 1994 on whether school district had just cause for the discipline and/or discharge of Everhart and if so, what that discipline should be.

[341]*341At the hearing, the arbitrator heard the testimony of various witnesses which included Rayaz Chishti, the complaining student, four of his classmates from Everhart’s class, Everhart, and several teachers and administrators.

On the charge of immorality/cruelty, the arbitrator did not find the testimony of Rayaz Chishti credible. Rayaz could only supply a date for one of the many accusations against Everhart and the arbitrator pointed out that none of the other witnesses corroborated Rayaz’s version of what happened.

Everhart categorically denied making any of the statements and gestures of which Rayaz Chishti accused him. The arbitrator found his testimony credible. He opined that Everhart was supported by the testimony of Mary Ann DeSei, the middle school principal and Everhart’s immediate supervisor, who had observed and evaluated him on numerous occasions in the classroom and never witnessed any inappropriate discussions or gestures and stated that he always followed the lesson plan in teaching science. The arbitrator found Everhart’s testimony was further bolstered by the testimony of four of Rayaz Chishti’s classmates in Everhart’s class who stated that Everhart made some statements that were remotely similar to Rayaz’s allegations; that they were not offended or embarrassed by them; and that Rayaz’s version distorted what actually happened. The arbitrator concluded that the allegations against Everhart were unfounded. The arbitrator found no evidence to indicate that Everhart made any statements or gestures that were immoral in nature.

The arbitrator also concluded that the school district’s evidence was insufficient to establish “cruelty” on the part of Everhart. In making this finding, he used the definition of cruelty set forth in Caffas v. Board of [342]*342School Directors of the Upper Dauphin Area School District, 23 Pa. Commw. 578, 582, 353 A.2d 898, 900 (1976) where the Commonwealth Court defined cruelty as behavior that necessarily entailed an “intentional and malicious infliction of physical or mental suffering. . . .” (Arbitrator’s opinion, p. 13.)

On the charges of persistent and willful violation of the school laws and insubordination, the arbitrator found that Everhart’s attempts to contact the Chishti family after he was instructed not to by Dr. Dispenziere were willful. However, the arbitrator stated, “we are unable to conclude that three phone attempts and a letter rise to a level of insubordination that would warrant dismissal of a 25 year employee with an otherwise unblemished record.” (Arbitrator’s opinion, p. 17.)

On May 1, 1995 the arbitrator sustained Everhart’s grievance and directed school district to reinstate Ever-hart to his former position without loss of seniority and/or benefits. Further, the arbitrator directed school district to pay Everhart for any and all lost wages from the date of his dismissal by school district until the date of reinstatement.

DISCUSSION

This court’s review of the arbitrator’s award on an appeal is narrowly circumscribed. Our standard of review is limited to determining whether the arbitrator’s decision derives its essence from the collective bargaining agreement. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that “an arbitration award must be upheld if it can in any rational way be derived from the collective bargaining agreement in light of the language, context, and other indicia of the parties’ intention.” Pennsylvania State Education Association with Pennsylvania School Service Personnel/PSEA v. Appalachia Intermediate [343]*343Unit 08, 505 Pa. 1, 5, 476 A.2d 360, 362 (1984). The court may not review the arbitrator’s decision on the merits, nor may the court substitute its judgment for that of the arbitrator. See Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board v. Independent State Stores Union, 520 Pa. 266, 553 A.2d 948 (1989).

Remedies ordered by arbitrators are to be affirmed if they further the essence of the collective bargaining agreement. Wayne Highlands Education Association v. Wayne Highlands School District, 92 Pa. Commw. 114, 498 A.2d 1375 (1985). Furthermore, the United States Supreme Court has held that:

“When an arbitrator is commissioned to interpret and apply the collective bargaining agreement, he is to bring his informed judgment to bear in order to reach a fair resolution of a problem. This is especially true when it comes to formulating remedies.” Id. at 122, 498 A.2d at 1379, citing United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel and Car Corporation, 363 U.S. 593, 597 (1960).

We shall now address school district’s contentions in the light of these principles.

I. Arbitrability of Issues and Scope of Authority

School district first contends that the question of whether there was just cause for Everhart’s discharge/ dismissal was not arbitrable and the arbitrator acted beyond the scope of his authority by hearing and deciding this matter. This argument is wholly meritless.

The parties stipulated to the issue of arbitrability. At the very outset of the arbitration hearing, counsel put on the record that the issue before the arbitrator was “whether or not there was just cause for the discipline and/or discharge of the grievant (Everhart) and [344]*344if not, what shall the remedy be.” (N.T.

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Bluebook (online)
28 Pa. D. & C.4th 338, 1996 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 388, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/panther-valley-school-district-v-panther-valley-education-assn-pactcomplcarbon-1996.