Technical Employees Ass'n v. Public Employment Relations Commission

20 P.3d 472, 105 Wash. App. 434
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 26, 2001
DocketNo. 25090-0-II
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 20 P.3d 472 (Technical Employees Ass'n v. Public Employment Relations Commission) 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
Technical Employees Ass'n v. Public Employment Relations Commission, 20 P.3d 472, 105 Wash. App. 434 (Wash. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Bridgewater, J.

The Technical Employees Association (TEA) sought to replace the incumbent unions for certain King County employees by filing five petitions with the Public Employees Relations Committee (PERC). PERC affirmed its Director’s dismissal of the petitions on the grounds that TEA filed the petitions late. When TEA appealed to superior court, it failed to serve the Teamsters who had participated in the administrative proceeding. We hold that this failure deprived the superior court of jurisdiction to consider TEA’s petition for judicial review. We reverse.

Since 1995, TEA has sought to become the official union representative of various King County employees, particularly former King County Department of Metropolitan Services (Metro) engineers. Some of these employees were already represented by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Employees (IFPTE) Local 17 and Teamsters Union Local 117.

Both IFPTE and the Teamsters had collective bargaining agreements with King County. IFPTE’s agreement was effective through December 31,1997. The Teamsters’ agreement was effective through December 31, 1998. RCW 41.56.070 provides a “contract bar” to any party wishing to challenge the continuation of a valid collective bargaining agreement; it requires that such challenge be brought “not more than ninety nor less than sixty days prior to the expiration date of the agreement.” See also WAC 391-25--030. 1

On October 31, 1997, TEA sent a courier to PERC’s office [437]*437with five “Petition [s] for Investigation of Question [s] Concerning Representation” (QCR).2 In these petitions, TEA sought to supplant IFPTE and the Teamsters as the employee representative. TEA’s courier did not arrive at the PERC office until after it had closed. Thus, the courier slid the petitions under the door. The cutoff date was Sunday, November 2. On Monday, November 3, the PERC office reopened and the staff filed the petitions, stamping them filed on that date.

PERC began an initial investigation into TEA’s petitions. On April 17,1998, PERC sent TEA a letter informing it that its petitions “appear [ed] to be untimely,” and giving it 14 days “to show cause why [the petitions] should not be dismissed as untimely.” Administrative R. at 162.

TEA responded with three main arguments.3 PERC’s Executive Director dismissed TEA’s petitions, rejecting all three arguments. TEA petitioned PERC for review of this dismissal. PERC affirmed the Director’s dismissal of TEA’s petitions.

TEA petitioned the superior court for review. Although the Teamsters had been involved in the PERC proceedings, TEA did not serve its superior court petition or any other superior court document on the Teamsters. Thus, King County and IFPTE moved to dismiss TEA’s petition for failure to invoke the court’s jurisdiction under RCW 34.05.542(2), which requires service on “all parties of record” that were “allowed to intervene or participate as a party in the agency proceeding.” Clerk’s Papers at 208, 210. The Teamsters supported the motion by providing an affidavit from its legal counsel who asserted that TEA’s petition for judicial review involved employees for which the Teamsters was the incumbent union. Counsel also confirmed that TEA had not served the Teamsters with the petition for judicial review.

[438]*438The superior court rejected the jurisdictional argument, holding that TEA’s petition “was timely filed on all parties[.]” Clerk’s Papers at 553.

On appeal, IFPTE and King County argue that the Teamsters was a “party” that participated in the challenged administrative action and therefore TEA was statutorily required to serve the Teamsters. Failing to do this, they argue, deprived the superior court of statutory jurisdiction to rule on TEA’s petitions.

An appeal from an administrative tribunal invokes the appellate, rather than the general, jurisdiction of the superior court.4 Acting in its appellate capacity, the superior court is of limited statutory jurisdiction, and a party seeking to properly invoke its jurisdiction must meet all statutory procedural requirements.5 The procedural and jurisdictional requirements are set forth in RCW 34.05.542(2), which states that a “petition for judicial review of an [agency] order shall be filed with the court and served on the agency, the office of the attorney general, and all parties of record within thirty days after service of the final order.” Service on all parties is a necessary condition of jurisdiction. See Union Bay Pres. Coalition v. Cosmos Dev. & Admin. Corp.6 A party to agency proceedings, or party in a context so indicating is “[a] person named as a party to the agency proceeding or allowed to intervene or participate as a party in the agency proceeding.”7

The court in Den Beste v. State, Pollution Control Hearings Board8 analyzed the “participated as a party” language. There, the Department of Ecology (DOE) examined “groundwater applications.” The Yakima Indian Nation participated in the administrative process; its representa[439]*439tives attended public meetings, met privately with DOE staff, and prepared literature for DOE concerning the applications.9 But it did not formally intervene in the process. DOE ruled on the applications, but it failed to immediately send notice of its ruling to the Yakima Nation.

During a later administrative appeal, DOE argued that the Yakima Nation was not a “party” and was therefore not entitled to notice of the rulings. Although the superior court agreed, Division Three did not. Division Three noted that the Yakima Nation’s “concern was expressed by its attending public and private meetings and by submitting written input to [DOE].”10 After referencing ROW 34.05.010(12)’s “participated as a party” language, it held that “given its degree of participation, the Yakima Indian Nation was entitled to timely notice of the [DOE] decision.” 11

Here, the Teamsters was a participating party. PERC and the other parties (including TEA) treated the Teamsters as a participating party. The following conclusively demonstrates that the Teamsters was a party:

(1) In at least three of its QCR petitions TEA named the Teamsters as the incumbent bargaining representative.[12] In each petition, TEA noted that “the representation status of the other employees is uncertain.” Administrative R. at 3, 19, 35, 51. Implicitly, the Teamsters could have also represented these “uncertain” employees;
(2) The Teamsters asserted that it could have represented the “uncertain” employees in its affidavit supporting King County and IFPTE’s motion to dismiss on jurisdictional grounds;
(3) At the start of the agency proceedings, TEA filed its QCR petitions with PERC and submitted copies to its client, IFPTE, King County, and the Teamsters;

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
20 P.3d 472, 105 Wash. App. 434, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/technical-employees-assn-v-public-employment-relations-commission-washctapp-2001.