City of Cranston v. Int'l Bhd. of Police Officers

• Decision Date: 23 June 2020
• Docket Number: No. 2018-249-Appeal.,PC 17-2840,2018-249-Appeal.
• Citation: City of Cranston v. Int'l Bhd. of Police Officers, 230 A.3d 564 (R.I. 2020)
• Parties: The CITY OF CRANSTON v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF POLICE OFFICERS, LOCAL 301, et al.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

230 A.3d 564

The CITY OF CRANSTON

v.INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF POLICE OFFICERS, LOCAL 301, et al.

No. 2018-249-Appeal.

PC 17-2840

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Issued June 23, 2020

Corrected June 23, 2020

William K. Wray, Jr., Esq., William M. Dolan, Esq., for Plaintiff.

Carly Beavais Iafrate, Esq., Michael P. Robinson, Esq., Elizabeth A. Wiens, Esq., for Defendants.

Present: Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Flaherty, Robinson, and Indeglia, JJ.

Justice Flaherty, for the Court.

The plaintiff, the City of Cranston (the City), appeals from a Superior Court judgment in favor of the defendants, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, Local 301 (the Union); Daniel W. Nuey, Sr. (Nuey); and the Municipal Employees Retirement System (MERS). In his decision, the trial justice ordered the City to arbitrate the Union's grievance that was filed on behalf of Nuey, after the trial justice found that Nuey had not retired from his position as a Cranston police officer and thus remained a member of the bargaining unit. For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.¹

IFacts and Travel

On June 25, 2013, Nuey, a sergeant in the Cranston Police Department, left work early, claiming that he was experiencing "uncontrollable levels of stress and anxiety[.]" As a result, and with the agreement of the City, he began to receive injured-on-duty (IOD) benefits from the City. Pursuant to G.L. 1956 § 45-21.2-9, Nuey later applied for an accidental disability retirement.

While Nuey was receiving IOD benefits and while his application for an accidental disability retirement remained pending, he began working a second job. He was appointed to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Gaming Authority Board of Directors by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council. As was required by the Department's rules and regulations, Nuey sought permission to engage in that employment while he was being compensated as a result of his IOD status. However, the Department rejected Nuey's request for outside employment because, it claimed, for it to approve Nuey's request, it needed to secure a medical opinion as to whether that employment would impede Nuey's recovery and thereby delay his return to work.² Nuey, undeterred, continued to serve on the Board of Directors of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Gaming Authority, and he did not provide the requested materials to the Department.³

Sometime thereafter, Nuey's application for accidental disability retirement went before the Disability Subcommittee of the Retirement Board of the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI), which also administers MERS. The Disability Subcommittee voted to recommend that the Retirement Board deny Nuey's application for an accidental disability retirement, a recommendation that was accepted by the Retirement Board. Nuey then made a request that the decision be reconsidered, and he also filed a second application, this time seeking an ordinary disability retirement. Upon reconsideration, the Disability Subcommittee again voted to recommend that the Retirement Board deny Nuey's application for an accidental disability retirement. However, the Disability Subcommittee recommended favorably with respect to Nuey's application for an ordinary disability retirement. The Retirement Board voted to accept that recommendation on March 15, 2017 and granted an ordinary disability retirement to Nuey. Pursuant to § 45-21.2-9(f), Nuey then appealed the Retirement Board's decision denying his application for an accidental disability retirement to the Workers' Compensation Court.⁴ However, he did not contest the Retirement Board's decision to grant him an ordinary disability retirement.

After his application for an ordinary disability retirement was granted, Nuey corresponded with the City about the decision to grant his application for an ordinary disability retirement. In that letter to the City, Nuey said that he would retire on the condition that the City make up the difference between what he would receive from an ordinary disability pension as opposed to an accidental disability pension.⁵ Relevant to this appeal, Nuey requested that he "be put on the City's pension roll effective end of day immediately[,]" and he stressed the conditional nature of his offer.⁶ Although the City denied Nuey's request for the supplemental pension, it nonetheless overrode the conditional nature of his offer and accepted Nuey's request to retire on an ordinary disability. Nuey then sent another letter, this time through counsel, withdrawing his offer to retire because the City had refused to accept his condition. The City, also through counsel, rejected Nuey's rescission, informing Nuey that the City would process his request to retire and remove him from the payroll. In addition, the City also stated that Nuey was no longer entitled to IOD benefits. A few days later, on May 12, 2017, the City put a stop to Nuey's IOD benefits and terminated his employment. At that time, the City, under the terms of its collective bargaining agreement with the police union, also compensated Nuey for outstanding vacation, sick, and personal days, as well as prorated longevity that he had accrued.⁷

The Union filed a grievance, alleging that the removal of Nuey from IOD status and from his employment violated the collective bargaining agreement between the City and the Union. The City promptly denied the grievance, after which the Union filed a demand for arbitration under the collective bargaining agreement. In response, the City filed a complaint for declaratory relief against the Union and Nuey, and it further sought to enjoin the Union from arbitrating the grievance. The City argued, among other things, that, because Nuey was retired and was no longer a member of the bargaining unit, the Union did not have standing to represent him. In its answer, the Union denied that Nuey was retired; the Union also moved to compel arbitration.

A dispute soon arose about whether an arbitrator or the trial justice should make the determination of whether the dispute was arbitrable. The trial justice, in a written decision, decided that he, not an arbitrator, should decide the preliminary issue of whether Nuey was retired or not. The trial justice reasoned that, if a determination was made that Nuey was in fact retired, then the Union would lack standing to pursue a grievance on his behalf, thus rendering the Union's grievance not arbitrable. However, he also reasoned that, if Nuey was not deemed to be retired, he would remain a member of the Union and therefore the Union's grievance would be arbitrable.

Before the trial, the Union moved to join MERS as a party because, in the Union's view, MERS had an interest in the outcome of the declaratory judgment action.⁸ The trial justice granted the Union's motion, and he further informed MERS that it would be "free to present evidence, [and] to write brief[s]," but would not be required to do so.⁹

The parties agreed that the case should be tried upon an agreed statement of facts; however, the trial justice also informed the parties that they were free to call witnesses.¹⁰ As part of the agreed statement of facts, the parties attached specific exhibits. The City, the Union, and MERS also filed memoranda to support their respective positions. As part of its memorandum, MERS attached a form that all members of ERSRI, including Nuey, are required to complete in order to receive an ordinary disability pension. That form (the MERS form), which was neither signed nor completed by Nuey, was referred to in the agreed statement of facts and was designated as "Employer Certification of Retirement and Final Wages," and stated:

"By signing this form the member acknowledges that he/she has voluntarily made the decision to submit the completed form to [ERSRI] which includes the member's date of termination and projected final wages and service credits through the date of termination. The member further understands that if he/she has made the determination not to terminate after submission of this form, he/she must notify ERSRI in writing immediately . After the member's pension has been processed, no further contributions will be accepted after the date of termination provided on this form, and once the member has cashed a pension check, the member's retirement is final and cannot be rescinded ." (Emphasis added.)

At trial, the City argued that Nuey had been retired as a matter of law when the Retirement Board granted his application for an ordinary disability retirement. In the alternative, the City argued that, even if Nuey had not been retired as a matter of law, Nuey had in fact retired as a result of his conduct and activities. In contrast, the Union argued that the Retirement Board did not possess the statutory authority to unilaterally retire police officers. In addition, it argued that Nuey had not retired as a matter of fact either. For its part, MERS took no position as to the merits of Nuey's grievance or his rights under the CBA; however, MERS did take the position that it was not its role to retire employees. In staking out that ground, MERS attached to its written arguments the MERS form which retirees must complete and execute in order to verify separation of employment as of a given date.

After reviewing the record before him, and after considering the arguments of the parties, the trial justice ruled that Nuey had retired neither as a matter of law nor as a matter of fact. In his decision, the trial justice relied not only on the agreed statement of facts and the attached exhibits, but he also cited the MERS form as well as bringing to the case his own deep experience, acquired from a long career in the public sector. After the trial justice issued his bench decision, the City moved for the trial justice to reconsider his decision or, in the alternative, to reopen the record for additional evidence. As part of its motion, the City argued that the trial justice erred when he relied on...