Pub. Emp't Relations Bd. v. Bellflower Unified Sch. Dist.

241 Cal. Rptr. 3d 22, 29 Cal. App. 5th 927
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedDecember 4, 2018
DocketNo. B288594
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 241 Cal. Rptr. 3d 22 (Pub. Emp't Relations Bd. v. Bellflower Unified Sch. Dist.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pub. Emp't Relations Bd. v. Bellflower Unified Sch. Dist., 241 Cal. Rptr. 3d 22, 29 Cal. App. 5th 927 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

MANELLA, P. J.

*929Real party in interest California School Employees Association (CSEA), the exclusive representative of most classified employees employed by appellant Bellflower Unified School District (the District), filed two unfair practice charges against appellant in 2010 and 2013 under the Education Employment Relations Act ( *930Govt. Code, § 3540 et seq., EERA).1 After notice and hearing, respondent Public Employment Relations Board (PERB or the Board), the agency charged with interpreting and administering the EERA, issued two decisions and orders requiring, among other things, that appellant post two specific notices to its employees. After the decisions and orders became final in 2015, appellant refused to post the notices, claiming that they were out of date and misleading. PERB filed the underlying enforcement proceeding, and the trial court issued a writ of mandate instructing appellant to comply with the Board's two orders. Appellant appeals, contending that PERB failed to prove the decisions and orders were issued pursuant to its established procedures, and that PERB's General Counsel abused his discretion under a regulation authorizing him to conduct an investigation or hearing prior to filing an enforcement proceeding.

We find substantial evidence supports the trial court's conclusion that the decisions and orders were issued pursuant to PERB's procedures, and that there was no abuse of discretion on the part of the General Counsel. Accordingly, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Decision and Order No. 2385

During the 2009 to 2010 school year, appellant decided to close one of its elementary *24schools, Las Flores, at the end of the school year. The proposed closure had the potential to eliminate some classified positions. On multiple occasions CSEA demanded a meeting to negotiate the effects of the proposal, but no meeting occurred. On November 10, 2010, CSEA filed an unfair practice charge with PERB, alleging that appellant failed to negotiate the closure, and that the closure caused layoffs and reductions in hours, in violation of section 3543.5, subdivisions (a), (b) and (c) of the EERA.2

The unfair practice charge was assigned to PERB's Office of General Counsel (OGC) for investigation and review. The attorney to whom it was assigned notified appellant that the charge was being reviewed and gave appellant an opportunity to file a response.

*931On January 20, 2012, PERB issued a complaint, alleging that appellant had committed an unfair practice and had violated section 3543.5, subdivisions (a) through (c) of the EERA, by failing to meet and bargain in good faith with CSEA over the effects of the proposed layoffs, and that appellant had implemented layoffs and reductions in hours for its employees. The OGC convened an informal conference with the parties to explore the possibility of settling the complaint. The matter did not settle.

The matter was assigned to an administrative law judge (ALJ) for resolution. At a noticed hearing on July 10, 2012, CSEA presented evidence. Appellant appeared, but declined to present evidence. On October 12, 2012, after the parties submitted closing briefs, the ALJ issued a proposed decision, finding that appellant had violated the EERA by failing to bargain in good faith with CSEA over the effects of its proposed layoffs.

Both sides filed "exceptions" to the ALJ's proposed decision, causing the matter to be sent to PERB for a final decision. On June 30, 2014, the Board issued Decision No. 2385, essentially adopting the ALJ's findings of fact and conclusions of law and rejecting both parties' exceptions. Included with the decision was Order No. 2385, requiring appellant to cease and desist from: (1) failing to bargain in good faith with CSEA over the foreseeable impact of the closure of Las Flores and the abolishment of classified positions, and (2) denying classified bargaining unit members the right to be represented by CSEA. It required appellant to take the following affirmative actions: (1) meet and negotiate in good faith with CSEA, (2) provide affected bargaining unit members with limited back pay, (3) post a specific "Notice to Employees" both at employee work locations and by electronic means for 30 consecutive work days, and (4) provide PERB with written notification of the actions taken to comply with the order.3 Requirement *25(2), the "limited backpay *932remedy," required CSEA to "submit its bargaining proposals within twenty (20) days following the service of this Decision and Order," and stated that if CSEA failed to submit such proposals within the requisite time frame, "this limited backpay remedy shall not go into effect."

Appellant's petition for review in the Court of Appeal was denied. Its petition in the Supreme Court was also denied. After Decision No. 2385 became final, CSEA withdrew its request to bargain, eliminating requirements (1) and (2) of the order. This left requirements (3) and (4)-posting the Notice to Employees and notifying PERB of the actions taken to comply with the order.

In August 2015, PERB advised appellant by letter that Decision No. 2385 was final, giving appellant until September 15, 2015 to comply by filing a statement describing the dates the notice to Employees was posted and a computation of the days deemed to be work days. Appellant responded, stating that it had no location "where notices 'customarily are posted,' " and that it had sent no electronic notices because, in its view, it had no employees to whom the notice applied. Appellant reported that it had, however, posted a modified notice in its personnel office.4 In subsequent letters, appellant contended that posting the Notice to Employees required by the decision "would be very misleading to all classified employees because of CSEA's decision not to request bargaining or compensation." The OGC responded that appellant had a "fundamental misunderstanding ... regarding the remedial purpose of a notice posting." The purpose of a notice posting is not solely to inform those directly affected by a respondent's unlawful act. As the Board explained in Trustees of the California State University (1988) PERB Decision No. HO-U-335-H [1988 Cal. PERB LEXIS 49] "Order No. Ad-174-H[ ] ...: [¶] '[T]he purpose of a posting requirement is to inform all who *26would naturally be concerned (i.e., employees of the District, as well *933as management and supervisory personnel who carry out District policies) of activity found to be unlawful under the Act in order to provide guidance and prevent a reoccurrence.' "5

PERB made multiple attempts to obtain appellant's compliance. On March 2, 2016, the OGC advised appellant that the Board had authorized it to seek enforcement of Order No. 2385 in superior court.6

B.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
241 Cal. Rptr. 3d 22, 29 Cal. App. 5th 927, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pub-empt-relations-bd-v-bellflower-unified-sch-dist-calctapp5d-2018.