CRETE EDUC. v. Saline County School Dist.

• Decision Date: 13 December 2002
• Docket Number: No. S-01-617.,S-01-617.
• Parties: CRETE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, an unincorporated association, Appellee, v. SALINE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 76-0002, also known as Crete Public Schools, a political subdivision of the State of Nebraska, Appellant.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

654 N.W.2d 166

265 Neb. 8

CRETE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, an unincorporated association, Appellee, v. SALINE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 76-0002, also known as Crete Public Schools, a political subdivision of the State of Nebraska, Appellant.

No. S-01-617.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

December 13, 2002.

Kelley Baker, Lincoln and Karen A. Haase, of Harding, Shultz & Downs, for appellant.

Mark D. McGuire, Lincoln, of McGuire and Norby, for appellee.

Robert A. Bligh for amicus curiae Nebraska Association of School Boards.

HENDRY, C.J., WRIGHT, CONNOLLY, GERRARD, STEPHAN, McCORMACK, and MILLER-LERMAN, JJ.

HENDRY, C.J.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Crete Education Association (CEA) filed a complaint against Saline County School District No. 76-0002, also known as Crete Public Schools (District), with the Commission of Industrial Relations (CIR). The CEA alleged that the District engaged in prohibited labor practices under Neb. Rev.Stat. § 48-824(2)(a), (e), and (f) (Reissue 1998). The CIR found for the CEA. The District appeals. Both the District and the CEA filed petitions to bypass the Nebraska Court of Appeals, which this court granted.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On March 9, 2000, the CEA requested negotiations with the District regarding the terms and conditions of teacher employment for the upcoming 2000-2001 school year. The District agreed to negotiate, and negotiations began on April 19, 2000. At no time during the negotiation sessions was impasse reached or declared.

Near the time that negotiations were requested, a position for an industrial technology teacher at Crete High School became available. The District was concerned about its ability to fill this position with a qualified applicant and, accordingly, expanded its advertising for the position. Five or six applications for the position were received, but only three were deemed suitable to interview. Interviews for the three applicants were scheduled for April 3, 2000, but only two applicants were actually interviewed. The position was offered to Matthew Hintz on April 4.

Prior to offering the position to Hintz, Kim Sheppard, principal of Crete High School, discussed the results of the interview process with Dr. John Fero, superintendent of the District. Sheppard expressed concern over whether Hintz would accept the offer, given the $21,000 yearly salary. Due to Sheppard's concern, Dr. Fero authorized Sheppard to offer Hintz a starting salary of $24,000, an amount which Dr. Fero testified he felt would be within the range of the base salary after the negotiations between the District and the CEA were completed for the 2000-2001 school year.

At the District's school board meeting held April 10, 2000, the District approved the hiring of Hintz. While the minutes of that board meeting do not reflect the $24,000 starting salary, there was testimony that the board did discuss the amount of the starting salary at that meeting. The meeting was attended by Chad Denker, past president of the CEA, as well as Jana Fulton, president of the CEA during the relevant negotiations. The record reflects that at this meeting, the board "opened up the floor" for general public comment, but none was made. When Hintz signed his contract on April 27, the salary amount was left blank pending the upcoming negotiations.

Negotiations between the CEA and the District commenced on April 19, 2000, with a goal to formulate a collective bargaining agreement for the 2000-2001 school year. Each side was represented by a negotiating team. Representing the District were Dr. Fero, then school board president Dr. Gary Lothrop, and chief negotiator Gary Williams, who was also a school board member. Representing the CEA were Denker, Fulton, Jennene Puchalla, and chief negotiator Mike Coe.

At this first meeting, one of the issues raised by the CEA was the salary to be paid some of the new teachers. In addressing this issue, Dr. Fero noted that Hintz had been promised $24,000, but had signed a blank contract.

The next three negotiation sessions took place between May 3 and June 14, 2000. The District made five different offers during these sessions, with an effective base salary ranging from $23,661 to $24,826. The CEA's proposals made during these negotiations included base salaries of $21,900 to $22,200.

A fifth and final negotiation meeting was held on August 8, 2000. At this meeting, the District presented its sixth proposal which included, in effect, a base salary of $23,716. The CEA countered with their sixth proposal, which included a base salary of $21,700. At this juncture, the District questioned why the CEA did not favor an increase in the base salary. According to the minutes of that session:

Mike Coe explained CEA wanted to keep the current index. There is not a board policy that he is aware of that prohibits them [the District] from giving a bonus, because it would not affect the salary index.

The entire CEA Negotiations team does not agree with giving a non-experienced teacher any extra steps.

The District then presented its seventh proposal, which included a base salary of $21,650. In response to Fulton's concern about the low base salary for the upcoming year, the minutes reflect that the District's business manager "stated that the CEA told them to give a bonus." The minutes further reflect that "Mike Coe explained again that there is no board policy which prevents the board from giving a bonus, but that the Negotiation Team did not endorse or approve of it."

The District's seventh proposal was approved by the membership of the CEA. This agreement contained, inter alia, a base salary of $21,650, but made no mention of signing bonuses. On August 30, 2000, however, the District and Hintz entered into a separate agreement to make up the difference between the $24,000 promised contract price and the $21,650 base price through the payment of a bonus.

The CEA learned of this separate agreement, and on November 16, 2000, filed suit in the CIR pursuant to the Nebraska Industrial Relations Act (NIRA), Neb.Rev. Stat. §§ 48-801 to 48-842 (Reissue 1998). The CEA alleged that the District had engaged in prohibited labor practices in violation of § 48-824(2)(a), (e), and (f) by refusing to bargain with respect to the "`signing bonuses,'" by "dealing directly" with Hintz, and by unilaterally repudiating the salary schedule in the parties' negotiated agreement.

A hearing was held before the CIR on February 1, 2001. District superintendent Dr. Fero's testimony reflected that the District had made six proposals prior to the proposal which the CEA accepted and that all six proposals included a base salary at or near $24,000. Dr. Fero further testified that the District felt it was necessary to raise the base salary in order to attract new teachers and remain competitive with other districts. He then testified that after the District had expressed concern over the low base salary, the CEA responded by informing them that there was nothing in law or policy to prevent the District from paying a bonus, but that the CEA did not endorse or approve of it. Dr. Fero testified that he took these statements to mean that the CEA was "saying it's okay to pay bonuses" and further, that the District had changed its negotiating position in reliance on the CEA's apparent willingness to allow the payment of signing bonuses. He stated that the District would not have agreed to a base salary of $21,650 without a "clear agreement" that it could pay a signing bonus to Hintz.

Dr. Lothrop, president of the District's school board during the time of the relevant negotiations, testified that the impetus for the school board's change in position regarding the desire for a $24,000 base was the fact that the beginning of the school year was fast approaching and that the District wanted a new agreement before the new school year began. He testified that "settling [this agreement] before school I don't think anybody would disagree in this room is in the best interest of the teachers, the board, the administration and the students." He similarly testified that he felt the CEA had agreed to the use of a bonus as a solution to the District's low base salary problem.

Coe, chief negotiator for the CEA, testified that the minutes were accurate in recording his statement that "there is no board policy which prevents the board from giving a bonus." However, he explained that he felt the minutes did not adequately express his emphasis that the CEA did not endorse or approve the idea of paying a bonus. He testified that he felt he had been clear in communicating that the CEA was not endorsing or approving the use of bonuses.

Fulton, on behalf of the CEA, testified that at the first negotiation meeting on April 19, 2000, Denker raised the issue of paying Hintz $24,000, but that that Hintz' name did not come up in the discussions after that time. Fulton further testified recalling discussions on paying bonuses, but contended that those discussions occurred only in the last session and not throughout the negotiations and that she believed the CEA's opposition to the payment of bonuses to be clear.

Puchalla testified that it was her belief that the District intended to pay Hintz $24,000 regardless of how the negotiations proceeded. Puchalla further testified that she believed Coe was clear in communicating the CEA's position that it did not approve of the use of a signing bonus.

The CIR entered its order on May 1, 2001, finding that by directly communicating with Hintz in April 2000 regarding his base salary of $24,000, and in August 2000 regarding his signing, the District engaged in impermissible direct dealing in violation of § 48-824(2)(a), (e), and (f). The CIR further found that payment of $2,350 in the form of a signing bonus, per the August 2000 agreement, was in violation of the collective bargaining agreement and § 48-824(2)(a) and (e).

The CIR further concluded that the CEA had not waived its right to object to...