Red Bank Regional Ed. Ass'n v. Red Bank Regional High School Bd. of Ed.

Decision Date13 July 1977
Citation151 N.J.Super. 435,376 A.2d 1325
Parties, 96 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2863 RED BANK REGIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, a New Jersey corporation, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. RED BANK REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION, a body corporate andpolitic, State of New Jersey, Defendant-Respondent.
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division

Peter S. Falvo, Jr., West Long Branch, for plaintiff-appellant (Morgan & Falvo, West Long Branch, attorneys; Patricia Del Bueno, West Long Branch, on the brief).

Robert H. Otten, Red Bank, for defendant-respondent (Crowell & Otten, Red Bank, attorneys).

Before Judges FRITZ, ARD and PRESSLER.

PER CURIAM.

This appeal concerns an important aspect of labor law. It is clear that under N.J.S.A. 34:13A-5.3 a public employer must negotiate the establishment of grievance procedures whereby there may be an "appeal (from) the interpretation, application or violation of policies, agreements, and administrative decisions." It is not disputed that these must provide for the right of an individual employee to process his or her grievances and for the right of the representative organization to process its grievances. The question here presented is whether that statute mandates the right of the representative organization to initiate and process a grievance on behalf of the individual employee even in the event the employee chooses not to process a grievance on his or her own behalf. The trial judge, holding that "the grievance (is) a personal right belonging to the individual," answered that question in the negative. With acknowledgment that the matter is a difficult and close one of statutory interpretation, we reverse.

The statute reads as follows:

Public employers shall negotiate written policies setting forth grievance procedures by means of which their employees or representatives of employees may appeal the interpretation, application or violation of policies, agreements, and administrative decisions affecting them, provided that such grievance procedures shall be included in any agreement entered into between the public employer and the representative organization. Such grievance procedures may provide for binding arbitration as a means for resolving disputes. Notwithstanding any procedures for the resolution of disputes, controversies or grievances established by any other statute, grievance procedures established by agreement between the public employer and the representative organization shall be utilized for any dispute covered by the terms of such agreement.

Both parties agree, and it is axiomatic, that resolution of the question depends on an ascertainment of legislative intent. Toward that end the trial judge and the parties there and before us focused largely on the meaning of the disjunctive "or" in the phrase "their employees or representatives." We believe such an effort to be particularly unrewarding here, if for no other reason than that while "or" generally has been thought to indicate a disjunctive alternative, Murphy v. Zink, 136 N.J.L. 235, 239, 54 A.2d 250 (Sup.Ct.1947), aff'd o.b. 136 N.J.L. 635, 57 A.2d 388 (E.&A.1948); State v. Kress, 105 N.J.Super. 514, 520, 253 A.2d 481 (Law Div. 1969), corresponding with the word "either," Saveriano v. Saracco, 97 N.J.Super. 43, 46, 234 A.2d 244 (App.Div.1967), it may be used interchangeably with the conjunctive "and" if "consistent with the legislative intent." Murphy v. Zink, supra, 136 N.J.L. at 239, 54 A.2d 250. Beyond this, the literal meaning of words should give way to an effectuation of the purpose of the Legislature when to accord those words their usual or dictionary meaning would be to offend the purpose. Continental Cas. Co. v. Knuckles, 142 N.J.Super. 162, 167, 361 A.2d 44 (App.Div.1976).

Accordingly, we are satisfied that a more fruitful endeavor is to establish the purposes the Legislature had in mind when the statute was enacted and then to construe the...

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6 cases
  • Mallon, Matter of
    • United States
    • New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division
    • April 19, 1989
    ... ... Red Bank Reg. Ed. Ass'n v. Red Bank Bd. of Ed., 151 ... ...
  • Red Bank Regional Ed. Ass'n v. Red Bank Regional High School Bd. of Ed.
    • United States
    • New Jersey Supreme Court
    • August 3, 1978
    ... ... Cuba Railroad Co., 21 N.J. 78, 89, 120 A.2d 849 (1956) ...         As the Appellate Division correctly observed, the issue of law presented to the Court here for declaration of rights "is a difficult and close one of statutory interpretation." Red Bank Ed. Assn. v. Red Bank High Bd. of Ed., 151 N.J.Super. 435, 437, 376 A.2d 1325 (1977). Yet, although the complaint seeks judicial affirmation that "plaintiff (union) is entitled by statutory right to institute and process grievances in its own name and upon its own impetus," there is no allegation of the ... ...
  • Grant v. Thomas
    • United States
    • New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division
    • December 31, 1997
    ... ... , 616 A.2d 1331 (App.Div.1992); see also Red Bank Regional Educ. Assoc. v. Red Bank Regional High ... ...
  • Gothelf v. Oak Point Dairies of New Jersey
    • United States
    • New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division
    • April 15, 1982
    ... ... Red Bank Ed. Ass'n v. Red Bank High Bd. of Ed., 151 ... ...
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