County of Sacramento v. Afscme Local 146
| Decision Date | 28 July 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. C054060.,No. C054233.,C054060.,C054233. |
| Citation | 165 Cal.App.4th 401,80 Cal. Rptr. 3d 911 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. AFSCME LOCAL 146 et al., Defendants and Appellants; PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD, Intervener and Appellant. COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. AFSCME LOCAL 146, Defendant and Appellant; PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD, Intervener and Appellant. |
Beeson, Tayer & Bodine and Matthew Morbello for Defendant and Appellant AFSCME Local 146.
Tami R. Bogert, Wendi L. Ross, Tammy Samsel and Harry J. Gibbons for Intervener and Appellant.
Robert A. Ryan, Jr., County Counsel, and Krista C. Whitman, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Jennifer B. Henning for the California State Association of Counties and League of California Cities as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.
The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) (Gov. Code, § 3500 et seq.) governs labor relations between local government employers and employees. (Further undesignated section references are to the Government Code.) In 2001, the Legislature delegated jurisdiction over claims arising under the MMBA to the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). (Stats. 2000, ch. 901, § 8.) In this matter, we consider the extent of that jurisdiction.
In 2006, in the midst of collective bargaining efforts, several unions representing employees of the County of Sacramento (County) threatened a strike. The County initiated this action in the superior court to enjoin the unions from ordering or encouraging certain employees to participate in the strike. The County alleged the work of those employees was critical to providing necessary public services. The court granted the requested relief.
The unions and PERB appeal, contending PERB has exclusive jurisdiction to consider the matter because it arises under the MMBA. The County contends in opposition that a claim based on concerns for public health and safety falls outside PERB's exclusive jurisdiction. We conclude PERB has the better argument and reverse.
United Public Employees, Local No. 1 (Local 1), Teamsters Local No. 228 (Local 228), Sacramento-Sierra's Building and Construction Trades Council (Trades Council), AFSCME Local 146, AFL-CIO (Local 146), International Union of Operating Engineers Stationary Local 39, AFL-CIO (Local 39), and Social Services Union Local 535 (Local 535) are collective bargaining organizations representing various County employees.
A number of these employee unions were parties to memoranda of understanding (MOU) with the County that expired on June 30, 2006. The parties engaged in collective bargaining to reach new MOU's without success. On July 18, 2006, Local 1 informed the County it would initiate a strike on September 1, 2006, if its contract demands were not met. On August 3 and again on August 24, Local 1 informed the County the strike would begin on September 5.
On August 31, 2006, the County filed Sacramento County Superior Court Case No. 06AS03704 (Case No. 06AS03704) against Local 146, Local 1, Local 228, Local 39, and Trades Council seeking to enjoin them from "participating in or ordering, directing, requesting, exhorting, instructing, coercing, encouraging or in any other way inducing or attempting to induce" certain essential County employees from participating in the anticipated strike. The complaint identified nearly 200 employees by name whose jobs were alleged to be critical to providing essential County services.
On September 1, the County filed an ex parte application for temporary restraining order (TRO).
PERB filed an application to intervene in the action, asserting exclusive jurisdiction over the threatened strike. Various of the unions filed opposition to the County's application for a TRO arguing, among other things, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to issue the requested relief.
The trial court granted the County's application for a TRO, concluding injunctive relief was justified by the threat to public health and safety.
The unions thereafter filed opposition to the County's request for a preliminary injunction, again asserting PERB's exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, Local 39 moved to quash service of summons and complaint based on improper service.
On September 15, the trial court entered an order granting a preliminary injunction against Local 146, Local 1, Local 228, and Trades Council to prohibit them from ordering or encouraging a strike by the designated employees. However, the court concluded it had no personal jurisdiction over Local 39 and vacated the TRO previously issued against that party.
On September 20, the court granted PERB's application to intervene.
PERB filed a notice of appeal from both the September 1 TRO and the September 15 preliminary injunction. Local 146, Local 228, and Local 1 also appealed.
On September 7, 2006, the County filed Sacramento County Superior Court Case No. 06AS03790 (Case No. 06AS03790) against the same unions plus Local 535 seeking to enjoin them from ordering or encouraging participation in the strike by certain additional County employees. The next day, the County filed an application for a TRO.
PERB filed an application to intervene in this action as well, and its application was granted. PERB, Local 146, Local 228, and Local 39 filed opposition to the County's request for injunctive relief.
On September 12, the court granted the County's request for a TRO as to three pharmacists. On September 29, the court issued a preliminary injunction covering the same three employees.
PERB appealed both of these orders. Local 146 and Local 228 also appealed the orders.
PERB moved to consolidate the appeals for purposes of briefing and argument. We granted the application.
On January 17, 2007, Local 228 filed a notice of voluntary abandonment of its appeals.
The dispositive issue presented in this appeal is whether PERB has exclusive jurisdiction to resolve the claims raised by the County in its two superior court actions. PERB and the unions contend it does by virtue of 2001 legislation bringing claims arising under the MMBA within PERB's exclusive jurisdiction. PERB and the unions argue the strike fell under the MMBA because it involved collective bargaining activity that was either arguably protected or prohibited by the MMBA. The County contends otherwise, arguing its claim is not that the strike was illegal under the MMBA but that, despite the legality of the strike, it threatened public health and safety. The County argues only the courts have jurisdiction to consider such a claim.
(1) The question presented is one of exhaustion of administrative remedies. In general, a party must exhaust available administrative remedies before resorting to the courts. (Abelleira v. District Court of Appeal (1941) 17 Cal.2d 280, 292 .) Absent such exhaustion, the courts have no subject matter jurisdiction to proceed. (Id. at p. 293.)
(2) "The exhaustion doctrine is principally grounded on concerns favoring administrative autonomy (i.e., courts should not interfere with an agency determination until the agency has reached a final decision) and judicial efficiency (i.e., overworked courts should decline to intervene in an administrative dispute unless absolutely necessary)." (Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Superior Court (1992) 2 Cal.4th 377, 391 [6 Cal.Rptr.2d 487, 826 P.2d 730].)
Thus, the question presented here is whether an administrative remedy is available through PERB for the strike activity challenged by the County in its superior court actions. However, before addressing that issue, we review the history of the relevant law as it has developed in this area.
(Coachella Valley Mosquito & Vector Control Dist. v. California Public Employment Relations Bd. (2005) 35 Cal.4th 1072, 1083 [29 Cal.Rptr.3d 234, 112 P.3d 623] (Coachella Valley).) The MMBA covers most public employees, but not employees of school districts. (35 Cal.4th at p. 1083.)
In 1975, "the Legislature adopted the Educational Employment Relations Act (Gov. Code, §§ 3540-3549.3; hereafter the EERA), which governs employer-employee relations for public schools (kindergarten through high school) and community colleges. (Stats. 1975, ch. 961, § 2, pp. 2247-2263.) As part of this new statutory scheme, the Legislature created the Educational Employment Relations Board (EERB), `an expert, quasi-judicial administrative agency modeled after the National Labor Relations Board, to enforce the act.' [Citation.] The Legislature vested the EERB with authority to adjudicate unfair labor practice charges under the EERA. (See Stats. 1975, ch. 961, § 2, pp. 2249-2252.)
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