Cnty. of Rockland v. Superior Officers Council of the Sheriff's Corr. Officers Ass'n of Rockland Cnty.

• Decision Date: 11 December 2019
• Docket Number: Index No. 33278/18,2019-00424
• Citation: 178 A.D.3d 821,111 N.Y.S.3d 880 (Mem)
• Parties: In the Matter of COUNTY OF ROCKLAND, Appellant, v. SUPERIOR OFFICERS COUNCIL OF the SHERIFF'S CORRECTION OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF ROCKLAND COUNTY, Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

178 A.D.3d 821
111 N.Y.S.3d 880 (Mem)

In the Matter of COUNTY OF ROCKLAND, Appellant,
v.
SUPERIOR OFFICERS COUNCIL OF the SHERIFF'S CORRECTION OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF ROCKLAND COUNTY, Respondent.

2019-00424
Index No. 33278/18

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

Argued—October 15, 2019
December 11, 2019

Thomas E. Humbach, County Attorney, New City, N.Y. (Jeanne Gilberg of counsel), for appellant.

Bunyan & Baumgartner, LLP, Nyack, N.Y. (Joseph P. Baumgartner of counsel), for respondent.

MARK C. DILLON, J.P., JEFFREY A. COHEN, FRANCESCA E. CONNOLLY, LINDA CHRISTOPHER, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

178 A.D.3d 821

In a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 75 to permanently stay arbitration, the petitioner appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Rockland County (Sherri L. Eisenpress, J.), dated December 13, 2018. The order denied the petition and granted the respondent's cross motion to compel arbitration.

ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.

The County of Rockland and the Superior Officers Council of the Sheriff's Correction Officers Association of Rockland County (hereinafter SOC) are parties to a collective bargaining agreement (hereinafter the CBA). Pursuant to the CBA, the members of the SOC are required to be paid a certain percentage more than the rate of pay of the correction officers they

178 A.D.3d 822

supervise. On December 17, 2017, the correction officers' union reached an agreement with the County to increase their members' salaries, including salary increases for the years 2016 and 2017. However, the correction officers also agreed to waive the receipt of retroactive pay for those years. The SOC filed a grievance on behalf of its members seeking payment for retroactive salary increases for the years 2016 and 2017. The County denied the grievance, finding that the CBA did not contain a provision requiring it to pay SOC members a retroactive salary based on the retroactive pay increases it negotiated with the correction officers' union. The SOC demanded arbitration. The County then commenced this proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 75 to stay arbitration, and the SOC cross-moved to compel arbitration. In the order appealed from, the Supreme Court denied the petition, and granted the cross motion.

"The determination of whether a dispute between a public sector employer and employee

111 N.Y.S.3d 881

is arbitrable is subject to [a] two-prong test" ( Matter of Board of Educ. of Deer Park Union Free School Dist. v. Deer Park Teachers' Assn. , 77 A.D.3d 747, 747–748, 909 N.Y.S.2d 738 ; see Matter of Board of Educ. of Watertown City School Dist. [Watertown Educ. Assn.] , 93 N.Y.2d 132, 137–138, 688 N.Y.S.2d 463, 710 N.E.2d 1064 ; Matter of Acting Supt. of Schools of Liverpool Cent. School Dist. [United Liverpool Faculty Assn.] , 42 N.Y.2d 509, 512, 399 N.Y.S.2d 189, 369 N.E.2d 746 ). "Initially, the court must determine whether there is any statutory, constitutional, or public policy prohibition against arbitrating the grievance" ( Matter of Board of Educ. of Deer Park Union Free School Dist. v. Deer Park Teachers' Assn. , 77 A.D.3d at 748, 909 N.Y.S.2d 738 ; see ...