S.F. Deputy Sheriffs' Ass'n v. City & Cnty. of S.F.
| Decision Date | 17 September 2020 |
| Docket Number | A157120 |
| Parties | SAN FRANCISCO DEPUTY SHERIFFS' ASSOCIATION et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO et al., Defendants and Appellants. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
(City & County of San Francisco Super. Ct. No. CGC-17-563468)
Plaintiffs San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs' Association and Deputy Sheriff Douglas Jones arbitrated the appeal of Jones's termination with defendant City and County of San Francisco. Plaintiffs petitioned for enforcement of the arbitration award after then-Sheriff Vicki Hennessy stated she would not accept the arbitrator's decision reducing the penalty and directing that Jones be reinstated. The trial court confirmed the arbitration award. Defendant appeals. We will affirm.
Jones was terminated from the San Francisco Sheriff's Department in December 2015 for misconduct. The notice of termination stated: The notice was signed by then-Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi.
San Francisco Civil Service Commission Rules, rule 122 contains procedures related to the dismissal of "officers and employees in all classes, except the Uniformed Ranks of the Police and Fire Departments and MTA Service-Critical classes; or as noted or as specifically excluded, or except as may be superceded [sic] by a collective bargaining agreement for those employees subject to Charter Section 8.409." (S.F. Civil Service Com. Rules (SF CSC Rules), rule 122.) It states that a permanent employee "may be dismissed for cause upon written charges and after having an opportunity to be heard in her/his own defense." (Id., art. IV, sec. 122.7.1.) It provides for a hearing conducted by a hearing officer chosen from "organizations such as the American Arbitration Association or the State Conciliation Service which customarily provide hearing officers; or from a list of qualified hearing officers certified by the Civil Service Commission . . . ." (Id., art. IV, sec. 122.7.3.)
On December 27, 2015, Jones sent a written notice to appeal his termination. In the notice, Jones requested that "his appeal be heard by a neutral arbitrator." The next day, counsel for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department confirmed receipt of the notice and stated that she would send a letter requesting a list of arbitrators. The Sheriff's Department's counsel sent the letter to the State Mediation and Conciliation Service on January 5, 2016. It stated: "I am representing the San Francisco Sheriff's Department in a termination case and am writing to request a list of seven arbitrators for the Arbitration Appeal of the above referenced San Francisco Sheriff's Deputy."
The parties selected an arbitrator, Fred Butler, and proceeded to arbitration in June 2017. During the arbitration proceedings, the parties entered into certain stipulations regarding joint exhibits. Counsel for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department asked: Counsel for Jones responded: "So stipulated."
The arbitrator issued a decision in October 2017. It noted that the parties "stipulated at the hearing that the arbitrator shall have jurisdiction to rule on all questions of law and evidence as they pertain to the grievance." The decision stated: "After a review of the testimony and evidence submitted in this matter, the decision of the Department is reversed." The arbitrator reduced the penalty to a written reprimand and directed that Jones be reinstated, with back pay and benefits.
On October 27, 2017, counsel for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department sent an email to the arbitrator stating:
On October 31, 2017, counsel for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department sent an email to Jones's counsel stating:
On December 5, 2017, however, Sheriff Hennessy sent a letter to Jones. It stated that the relevant version of the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs' Association, in effect from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2019 (2014-2019 CBA), "makes clear that anappeals decision shall not be binding on the department when the decision is a recommendation of a reduction in discipline." Therefore, Sheriff Hennessy stated she would "not accept the arbitrator's recommendation for reinstatement, back pay, or the reduction of discipline to a written reprimand." The letter concluded that Jones's December 2015 termination was "final."
The 2014-2019 CBA provided for appeal of disciplinary grievances to the Administrative Appeals Board (Appeals Board). It stated that the decision of the Appeals Board was binding on the parties unless the decision recommended a reduction in discipline. In other words, Sheriff Hennessy retained discretion to reject an Appeals Board decision that recommended a reduction in the discipline imposed. The 2014-2019 CBA required that appeals of disciplinary grievances follow this process. It stated that disciplinary grievances "may not be submitted to arbitration . . . ."1
On December 29, 2017, plaintiffs filed a complaint asserting four causes of action against the City and County of San Francisco as well as Sheriff Hennessy:2 (1) enforcement of arbitration award; (2) petition for writ of mandamus; (3) damages pursuant to Government Code section 3309.5; and (4) petition for writ of administrative mandamus. Among other things, the complaint alleged that Sheriff Hennessy had rejected the arbitration awardunder the 2014-2019 CBA, but Jones's appeal had proceeded under rule 122 as directed by the San Francisco Sheriff's Department. The complaint alleged that given such conduct and Jones's reasonable reliance on that conduct, defendants should be "estopped from contending otherwise."
The parties agreed to the phasing of plaintiffs' causes of action and sought a decision from the trial court on enforcement of the arbitration award in the first phase. In their briefing for this first phase, plaintiffs attached copies of past arbitrations involving the San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs' Association and the City and County of San Francisco. Plaintiffs argued that this evidence showed "[f]or the past two decades, at least, lengthy suspensions and termination disciplinary actions taken by the Department against permanent deputy sheriffs have been subject to binding arbitration." Defendant did not present any contrary evidence.
On September 26, 2018, the trial court granted plaintiffs' petition to confirm the arbitration award. The trial court found the parties "entered into a valid agreement to arbitrate [Jones's] grievance of his termination of his employment."
Defendants subsequently moved for reconsideration, citing authority not contained in their earlier briefing for the proposition that neither Sheriff Hennessy nor her representatives could enter into an arbitration agreement that deviated from the procedures required by the 2014-2019 CBA. At the November 27, 2018 hearing, the trial court explained that the parties' arguments now overlapped with issues that they had agreed would not be addressed in the first phase. On December 12, 2018, the trial court vacated its September 26, 2018 order "without prejudice to Plaintiff [sic] bringing a new petition to compel arbitration without any constraints to the parties asto phasing." Plaintiffs renewed their petition for enforcement of the arbitration award.
On March 1, 2019, the trial court confirmed the arbitration award. The trial court found that the San Francisco Sheriff's Department had proceeded with appeals from deputy terminations under rule 122 for 20 years. As to Jones's specific case, the trial court found that the San Francisco Sheriff's Department had confirmed the applicability of rule 122 "at every step of the way"—in notifying Jones that his appeal was subject to the procedures in rule 122, requesting a list of arbitrators under rule 122, and stipulating that the arbitrator had jurisdiction under rule 122. The trial court concluded that "[t]hese undisputed facts establish both an egregious violation of Deputy Jones' procedural due process rights and an equitable estoppel."
The trial court confirmed the arbitrator's award for Jones. It ordered the City and County of San Francisco to comply with the award and that a writ of mandate would issue. On March 26, 2019, the trial court entered judgment for the plaintiffs as their remaining causes of action were now moot. On April 2, 2019, the trial court issued a writ of mandate, commanding defendants to comply with the arbitrator's decision to reinstate Jones and award him full back pay. This appeal followed.
Defendant argues that the trial court erred for three primary reasons: (1) Jones is not entitled to relief on the equitable estoppel theory; (2) the 2014-2019 CBA's procedures for appeal of a disciplinary grievance afforded Jones due process; and (3) the asserted agreement to...
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