DocketNumber: No. CV 94-0137022 S
Citation Numbers: 1995 Conn. Super. Ct. 6843, 14 Conn. L. Rptr. 462
Judges: NIGRO, J.
Filed Date: 6/6/1995
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 4/18/2021
"Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, available in limited circumstances for limited purposes." Golab v. New Britain,
The plaintiffs have moved for summary judgment and have filed affidavits, supporting documents and a brief in support of the motion. The defendants have objected to the motion and have, in turn filed affidavits supporting documents and brief in opposition to the motion.
The factual scenario is not in dispute. The plaintiffs are the City of Stamford, which is a school district for the public schools within the city (C.G.S. §
Because the Stamford Board of Education and the respective units were unable to settle the terms and conditions of employment for the teachers and administrators in the Stamford school system, the issues were submitted for arbitration under CT Page 6845 the provisions of General Statutes §
On December 28, 1993, an arbitration award was issued in connection with the collective bargaining agreement between the Stamford Board of Education and the Stamford Education Association. On December 29, 1993, an arbitration award was issued in connection with the collective bargaining agreement between the Stamford Board of Education and the Stamford Administrative Unit.
General Statutes §
. . . The award of the arbitrators or single arbitrator may be rejected by the legislative body of the local school district . . . Such rejection shall be by a two-thirds majority vote of the members of such legislative body . . . present at a regular or special meeting called and convened for such purpose within twenty-five days of the receipt of the award. If the legislative body . . . reject[s] any such award, [it] shall notify, within ten days after the vote to reject, the commissioner and the exclusive representative for the teachers' or administrators' unit of such vote and submit to them a written explanation of the reasons for the vote. . . .
On January 20, 1994, within 25 days of receipt of the of the awards, the Board of Representatives, the legislative body of the City of Stamford, at a special session called to consider the awards, voted on two items. The first item was entitled "approval of arbitration award between the Stamford Board of Education and the Stamford Education Association." On this item, the minutes indicate the resolution was rejected and the vote was "a vote of 21 no, 9 yes votes with one abstention." The second item was entitled "approval of arbitration award between the Stamford Board of Education and the Stamford Administrators Association." On this item, the minutes indicate the resolution was rejected and the vote was "a vote of 30 no votes with one abstention."
On January 16, 1994, within 10 days of the vote, the Board of Representatives notified the Commissioner of Education and the unions of its votes. The Board claimed in its notices that it had rejected the awards and set forth its reasons for its actions. CT Page 6846
General Statutes §
Within ten days after the commissioner has been notified of the vote to reject, (A) the commissioner shall select a review panel of three arbitrators or, if the parties agree, a single arbitrator who are residents of Connecticut and labor relations arbitrators approved by the American Arbitration Association and not members of the panel who issued the rejected award, and (B) such arbitrators or single arbitrator shall review the decision on each rejected issue.
The Commissioner, however, did not select a review panel, but rather determined that he was without jurisdiction to appoint such a panel On January 31, 1994, counsel for the Stamford Education Association had raised the issue with the Commissioner's office that the city's legislative body had voted on resolutions to approve the arbitration awards, rather than on resolutions to reject the arbitration awards. After a series of correspondence with the various parties, the Commissioner came to his conclusion that he was without jurisdiction to appoint a panel because the Stamford Board of Representatives had failed to pass a clear and unequivocal motion to reject. Specifically, in his letter notifying the parties of his decision, dated February 7, 1994, the Commissioner wrote:
"Section
10-153f (c)(7) of the Connecticut General Statutes mandates that, if a legislative body rejects an arbitration award, it do so by a vote to reject such award. In order to ensure compliance with this mandate, the Commissioner of Education has consistently administered the aforementioned statute in such a way as to require passage of a clear and unequivocal motion to reject. This decision is supported by the only judicial decision that addresses a municipality's authority to reject the results of the collective bargaining process between a local board of education and a local education association. See: Pomfret Teacher's Club v. Town of Pomfret (Superior Court, Windham County, No 16049, July 31, 1972)."
It is the position of the plaintiffs that the Board of Representatives clearly rejected the awards by more than a two-thirds majority, that the minutes clearly reflect that rejection, that the Board, through its president, did "notify, within ten days after the vote to reject, the commissioner and the exclusive CT Page 6847 representative for the teachers' or administrators' unit of such vote and submit to them a written explanation of the reasons for the vote." It is the further position of the plaintiffs that the statute mandates the commissioner to select a review arbitration panel upon receipt of that notice.
It is the position of the defendants that, because of the language of Conn. Gen. Stat. §
To this court, an examination of the minutes of the Board of Representatives and the supporting affidavit leaves no doubt that the members understood clearly what they were voting on and why they were voting. The resolutions were presented in the affirmative because, as the evidence of the minutes demonstrate, that was the custom and regular procedure of the Board. Although one member did suggest that the resolution should be framed as a vote to reject, the minutes demonstrate that the Board addressed the issue and elected to consider the resolutions in its customary manner. The President of the Board clearly stated that a no vote was a vote to reject the awards. The notification from the Board to the Commissioner together with the reasons for the Board's actions clearly indicated that the Board had rejected the awards. None of the defendants has claimed the Board voted an approval of the awards.
It appears from the position taken by the Commissioner that were the resolution on the first item to have read "rejection of arbitration award between the Stamford Board of Education and the Stamford Education Association," with the minutes indicating the resolution was approved and the vote was "a vote of 21 yes, 9 no votes with one abstention," and the resolution on the second item to have read "rejection of arbitration award between the Stamford Board of Education and the Stamford Administrators Association," with the minutes indicating the resolution was approved and the vote was "a vote of 30 yes votes with one abstention," there would have been no problem. CT Page 6848
The difference between a vote against approval and a vote in favor of rejection of the awards appears tautological, either is a refusal to accept the awards.
The first definition in the current Webster's CollegiateDictionary for the verb REJECT is "to refuse to accept, consider, submit to, take for some purpose, or use" The first definition in Funk Wagnalls Standard Dictionary defines REJECT as "To refuse to accept recognize believe etc." The first definition in The Oxford Universal Dictionary, Third Edition for the verb REJECT is "To refuse to recognize, acquiesce in, submit to or adopt." Under these definitions, the vote of the Board not to accept the awards was to reject the awards.
Legislative bodies often present an item in the affirmative, so that a "yes" vote signifies approval and a "no" vote signifies rejection Benenson v. Board of Representatives,
The defendants, as did the Commissioner, cite PomfretTeachers' Club v. Town of Pomfret, No. 16049 (Super.Ct., Windham County., July 31, 1972) for support. In that case, former Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice King, then acting as a State Referee, held that a motion made and defeated at a town meeting to "accept" a teacher contract did not constitute a vote to reject the contract within the meaning of Conn. Gen. Stat. §
There may be provisions of General Statutes §
However, the provision in question does not explicitly authorize any discretion on the part of the Commissioner to determine if he will or will not act based on how a legislative body worded the resolution voted upon which resulted in a rejection of the contract. General Statutes §
To the contrary, in 1992, the Connecticut Legislature added the provision authorizing rejection by the legislative body of the school district and requiring the Commissioner to appoint a CT Page 6850 review panel, whose review ". . . shall be limited to the record and briefs of the hearing pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, the written explanation of the reasons for the vote
and a written response by either party. In conducting such review, the arbitrators or single arbitrator shall be limited to consideration of the criteria set forth in subdivision (4) of this subsection." (emphasis added). Previously, the statute stated: "Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of section
The court is satisfied that under the circumstances in this case, where the legislative body gave timely notice of its vote not to accept, but to reject, the awards and gave its reasons for the vote, the law imposes on the Commissioner a duty to appoint the review panel, the performance of which is mandatory and not discretionary.
The defendant's urge that even if one were to assume that the Commissioner has no discretion in this regard, the fact that there is a direct split of decisional authority with regard to whether a municipality's failure to approve a contract constitutes a rejection of the contract within the meaning of Chapter 166, Teachers and Superintendents, belies any claim that the plaintiff has a clear legal right to the imposition of arbitration.
The defendants posit this claim on the decision in PomfretTeachers' Club v. Town of Pomfret, supra. That decision involved the interpretation of another provision of the Chapter where the legislative body or the voters of the town was acting on a contract agreement between the school board and the union without having to give reasons for the rejection, the decision predated the recent amendments to the statutes which emphasize the consideration which must be given to the reasons for the action of the legislative body, and the decision has not been followed by later decisions.
Obviously, if the Commissioner has no specific or implied CT Page 6851 authority to refuse to appoint a review panel when a timely notice of rejection of the awards has been filed, together with the reasons for the vote, then the plaintiffs have a clear legal right to have the duty performed and the panel appointed.
Finally, the defendants rather ingeniously assert there are other specific adequate remedies available to the plaintiffs. The defendants note that the plaintiffs have filed an action in the nature of an administrative appeal from the Commissioner's actions and have also filed an action to vacate the original arbitration awards. However, this court has previously sustained motions to dismiss each of those other actions filed by one or more of the defendants.
The administrative appeal was dismissed because, as the defendants claimed, the action of the Commissioner was not within a "contested case." The action to vacate the original arbitration awards was dismissed because the plaintiffs, relying on the fact that the Board of Representatives had voted to reject the awards, did not file that action to vacate the arbitration until after the Commissioner's unwarranted refusal to appoint a review panel, so the action to vacate the arbitrators' awards was not timely.
There is no other specific adequate remedy available to these plaintiffs to rectify the Commissioner's failure to appoint a review panel
A writ of mandamus shall issue and the Commissioner is directed to "select a review panel of three arbitrators or, if the parties agree, a single arbitrator, who are residents of Connecticut and labor relations arbitrators approved by the American Arbitration Association and not members of the panel who issued the rejected award" as mandated by General Statutes §
NIGRO, J.