Teamsters Local 839 v. Benton County

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedNovember 12, 2020
Docket36974-9
StatusPublished

This text of Teamsters Local 839 v. Benton County (Teamsters Local 839 v. Benton County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Teamsters Local 839 v. Benton County, (Wash. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

FILED NOVEMBER 12, 2020 In the Office of the Clerk of Court WA State Court of Appeals, Division III

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION THREE

TEAMSTERS LOCAL 839, ) No. 36974-9-III ) Respondent, ) ) v. ) PUBLISHED OPINION ) BENTON COUNTY, ) ) Appellant. )

LAWRENCE-BERREY, J. — Benton County appeals the Public Employment

Relations Commission’s (PERC) order that determined the County committed unfair

labor practices (ULPs) in the methods it used to recoup overpayment of wages from its

employees, unit members of Teamsters Local 839. The County argues the methods it

used complied with RCW 49.48.200 and RCW 49.48.210(10), the wage overpayment

statutes. It argues PERC misapplied the law by determining that the procedures in the

wage overpayment statutes are subject to chapter 41.56 RCW, the Public Employees’

Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA). We disagree.

We hold that recovery of overpaid wages from a union member’s future paychecks

or accrued leave is a mandatory subject of bargaining. We also hold that the PECBA and No. 36974-9-III Teamsters Local 839 v. Benton County

the wage overpayment statutes do not conflict. Read together, a public employer must

provide employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement the notice required by

RCW 49.48.210(10) and then bargain with the union about how overpaid wages are to be

repaid. We affirm PERC’s order determining that the County committed ULPs.

The County also argues PERC’s remedy is arbitrary and capricious. PERC

required the County to return the parties to status quo ante1 by returning the wages and

accrued leave it recouped from employees, plus interest. We affirm PERC’s remedy and

clarify the applicable interest rate and when interest commences.

FACTS

On November 1, 2016, the Benton County Auditor’s Office discovered an

accounting software error had caused sheriff office employees, including 85 corrections

officers, to be overpaid from June 2016 through September 2016. Whenever hours were

entered into a particular accounting system pay code, the software error caused an

improper increase in compensation. The County, aware that RCW 49.48.200 permitted it

to recoup overpaid wages from its employees’ future wages, decided it would do so.

1 Status quo ante does not deprive the County of its original rights, i.e., collect the overpaid wages using the correct procedure.

2 No. 36974-9-III Teamsters Local 839 v. Benton County

The next day, Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton sent Sheriff Steven Keane a

memo that notified him of the coding error. The memo explained how the error occurred

and that the County had the right to recoup overpayments by deducting up to five percent

of gross earnings from employee wages. On November 3, the sheriff’s office e-mailed

the memo to its employees.

Teamsters Local 839 is the bargaining representative for the County’s corrections

officers. Teamsters learned of the November 3 e-mail and the next day filed a Step 2

grievance with Sheriff Keane. The grievance notified Sheriff Keane that state law

permitted deduction from disposable wages, not gross wages, and the memo failed to

provide various information required by state law. Teamsters offered to discuss the

grievance with Sheriff Keane prior to his formal response.

On November 15, the sheriff’s office served its employees with a “Notice-Wage

Overpayment Repayment Demand” letter. Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 61-62. This letter

notified each affected employee that the employee had received wage overpayments, the

overpaid amount, an explanation of the software error, and it provided the entire text of

RCW 49.48.200.

The letter stated the County had begun the statutory process for overpayment

recovery and requested that the employee select one of three options for repayment and

3 No. 36974-9-III Teamsters Local 839 v. Benton County

sign the letter. The options were: (1) deduct the full overpayment amount from the

employee’s next paycheck, (2) deduct an employee-specified amount from future

paychecks, or (3) deduct an amount that would not exceed five percent of the employee’s

disposable earnings in a pay period from future paychecks. There was no option for

contesting the County’s assertion that overpayment occurred or the County’s calculation

of the overpaid amount. The letter stated, if the employee did not respond within 20 days,

and if the amounts were not disputed, the County would begin deducting the statutory five

percent of disposable earnings beginning with the employee’s January 2017 paycheck.

The County did not send a copy of the November 14 letter to Teamsters.

On November 28, the sheriff’s office forwarded a November 23 e-mail to its

employees that informed them of a fourth repayment option—cashing out accrued leave.

The e-mail stated that if an employee did not select a repayment option by December 20,

the default five percent of disposable earnings would be withheld from future paychecks.

The County did not send a copy of the November 23 e-mail to Teamsters.

On November 29, Sheriff Keane sent a letter to Teamsters responding to its Step 2

grievance. In the letter, he cited the following portion of RCW 49.48.210(10): “‘Any

dispute relating to the occurrence or amount of the overpayment shall be resolved using

the grievance procedures contained in the collective bargaining agreement.’” CP at 400.

4 No. 36974-9-III Teamsters Local 839 v. Benton County

Implying that no corrections officer had disputed the occurrence or amount of

overpayment, he denied Teamster’s grievance.

On November 30, Teamsters sent a demand-to-bargain letter to Sheriff Keane.

The letter stated if wage overpayments were made, Teamsters was in total agreement that

employees should repay the overpaid amounts, but that Teamsters “must be allowed to

bargain how this [would be] done.” CP at 535. On December 1, Sheriff Keane sent an e-

mail entitled “Demand to Bargain Letter” to Teamsters, Auditor Chilton, and others.

CP at 537-38. Sheriff Keane stated he was willing to meet and discuss his role and

limited authority, but he was unable to bargain the authority of the auditor’s office and

their statutory responsibility for recovering overpayments. He acknowledged that

Teamsters had made clear to him that failure to bargain would result in the union filing a

ULP complaint.

On December 1, Teamsters responded that it was “available to bargain anytime

and eager to get the overpayment of wage issue(s) resolved as soon as possible” and

requested dates Sheriff Keane would be available to bargain. CP at 538.

In January 2017, the County began deducting from employee wages and accrued

leave. These deductions occurred without bargaining with or agreement of Teamsters.

5 No. 36974-9-III Teamsters Local 839 v. Benton County

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