State v. Florida Police Benevolent Ass'n

688 So. 2d 326, 21 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1862, 22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 85, 1997 Fla. LEXIS 134, 1997 WL 67960
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedFebruary 20, 1997
DocketNo. 89181
StatusPublished

This text of 688 So. 2d 326 (State v. Florida Police Benevolent Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Florida Police Benevolent Ass'n, 688 So. 2d 326, 21 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1862, 22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 85, 1997 Fla. LEXIS 134, 1997 WL 67960 (Fla. 1997).

Opinion

GRIMES, Judge.

We review orders of the circuit court pursuant to certification by the First District Court of Appeal that the issues presented in the case are of great public importance and require immediate resolution. We have jurisdiction under article V, section 3(b)(5) of the Florida Constitution.

[327]*327As a result of negotiations between the governor and several public employee unions, chapter 22A-8 of the Florida Administrative Code was amended on August 1,1986. As a consequence, annual leave was increased from 13 to 17.33 hours per month and sick leave was decreased from 8 hours to 4 hours 20 minutes per month. If an employee accumulated more than 240 hours of annual leave in a year, the employee had the option of converting the excess hours into sick leave or receiving a cash payment for one-half of the excess hours. In addition, the amendment provided that sick leave could only be used when the employee’s illness was verified in writing by a physician. Thereafter, the governor entered into collective bargaining agreements with the unions which were effective between July 1, 1987, and June 30, 1990. These agreements incorporated by reference the then-existing provisions of chapter 22A-8 of the Florida Administrative Code.

As part of the 1988 General Appropriations Act, the legislature included a proviso which directed that the annual and sick leave benefits be returned to their July 1, 1986, levels. Ch. 88-555, § 9.3.A(5), Laws of Fla. In addition, annual leave in excess of 240 hours was forfeited as of December 31 of each calendar year, and the requirement of obtaining a written verification of illness was eliminated. On September 26,1988, chapter 22A-8 of the Florida Administrative Code was amended so as to be consistent with the proviso language of the 1988 appropriations act.

Three public employee unions brought suit 1 against the State of Florida, Lawton Chiles, as Governor of the State of Florida, and the Florida Department of Management Services (collectively referred to as the State), contending that the legislature’s action abridged their constitutional right to collective bargaining. On March 14, 1990, the trial court held section 9.3.A(5) of the 1988 appropriations act to be invalid under article I, section 6 of the Florida Constitution and directed the State to return the annual and sick leave benefits to levels called for by the bargaining agreements. The First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s order. State v. Florida Police Benevolent Ass’n, 580 So.2d 619 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991).

Because a portion of a state statute had been held unconstitutional, we reviewed that decision in State v. Florida Police Benevolent Ass’n, 613 So.2d 415 (Fla.1992). We held that collective bargaining agreements entered on behalf of public employees are subject to the appropriations power of the legislature. Therefore, the legislature was not bound to fund a program simply because the agreement called for it. On the other hand, we also held that where the legislature provides enough money to implement the benefit as negotiated but attempts to unilaterally change the benefit, the change will not be upheld and the negotiated benefit will be enforced. We also observed that should the legislature be able to show a compelling state interest justifying the abridgement of the right to collectively bargain, its unilateral changes would be enforced. We reversed and remanded the ease with the following directions.

For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the district court’s decision declaring section 9.3A.(5) of the 1988 Appropriations Act to be unconstitutional, quash the order of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of the unions, and remand to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. There is currently no record evidence on the issue of whether the negotiated benefits could be fully funded by the money already allocated by the legislature. Indeed, the parties cannot even agree on the question of whether the legislature’s benefits program actually saved the state money over the cost of funding the benefits as negotiated. Therefore, the trial court must determine whether the legislative appropriation was sufficient to fund the annual and sick leave provisions of the collective bargaining agreement. If it was, these provisions of the collective bargaining agreement must be enforced. If these provisions were underfunded, the legislative determination shall control.

Id. at 421.

Thereafter, the State filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that the legis[328]*328lative intent to fund the annual and sick leave benefits at the previous July 1, 1986, level was controlling. The unions filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, pointing out that the legislature does not specifically appropriate money for the funding of annual and sick leave benefits for career service employees and that the State had made no studies to determine whether the legislature’s return of annual and sick leave benefits to the 1986 level saved the State money over the cost of funding the benefits as negotiated. On May 24, 1994, the trial court granted the unions’ motion, reasoning that because the annual and sick leave benefits are part of the employees’ employment benefit package, the legislative appropriations were sufficient to fund the benefits of the collective bargaining agreement as negotiated. This order was affirmed by the district court of appeal. State v. Florida Police Benevolent Ass’n, 653 So.2d 1124 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995).

Subsequently, the unions asserted a right to annual and sick leave benefits under the agreement as negotiated from 1988 to the present time. The State filed a motion for partial summary judgment seeking an order clarifying that the only year for which the unions were entitled to relief was 1988-89. On March 5, 1996, the trial court denied the State’s motion and ruled that “the final order of the court rendered March 14, 1990, is hereby directed to be enforced.” Thereafter, the unions filed a petition for enforcement of the court’s March 14,1990, order and request for imposition of sanctions. On July 30, 1996, the State filed a motion for relief from judgment pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540. This motion was denied on August 21, 1996. On the same date, the court granted the unions’ petition for enforcement, stating “that enforcement of the judgment rendered in 1990 requires payment or restoration of annual and sick leave credits for all career service employees who are employed by the State of Florida, or were employed by the State of Florida, in bargaining units represented by plaintiffs for the period of time of July 1, 1988, through the present.” On September 3, 1996, the State filed a motion for rehearing of both orders, supported by affidavits purporting to demonstrate that the 1988 legislature had deviated from the bargained benefit levels in order to avoid serious depletions of the Health Insurance Trust Fund. The State’s motion for rehearing was denied on September 5, 1996, and this appeal followed.

The State first argues that the unions are entitled to no relief even for the budget year of 1988-89. According to the State, the May 24,1994, order granting summary judgment was not in the form of a final judgment and therefore the district court of appeal had no jurisdiction to entertain the State’s appeal. The State asserts that the March 5, 1996, order directing the March 14, 1990, order to be enforced was invalid because this Court had already quashed the March 14, 1990, order in our 1992 opinion.

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688 So. 2d 326, 21 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1862, 22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 85, 1997 Fla. LEXIS 134, 1997 WL 67960, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-florida-police-benevolent-assn-fla-1997.