School District of Beverly v. Geller

• Decision Date: 02 April 2001
• Citation: 755 NE 2d 1241,435 Mass. 223
• Parties: SCHOOL DISTRICT OF BEVERLY v. JAMES GELLER
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

435 Mass. 223

755 NE 2d 1241

SCHOOL DISTRICT OF BEVERLY v. JAMES GELLER

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

April 2, 2001.

October 5, 2001.

Present (Sitting at Northampton): MARSHALL, C.J., GREANEY, IRELAND, SPINA, COWIN, SOSMAN, & CORDY, JJ. Matthew D. Jones for the defendant.

Alan Kaplan for the plaintiff.

The following submitted a brief for amici curiae:

Michael J. Long & Rosann DiPietro for Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents.

Matthew D. Jones, Jeffrey Jacobsen, Donald J. Siegel, Elizabeth A. Sloane, & Wayne Soini for Massachusetts Teachers Association/NEA & others.

BY THE COURT.

The judgment of the Superior Court upholding the arbitration award is vacated.¹ The matter is recommitted to the arbitrator for further proceedings.

So ordered.

Separate opinions of Justice Cordy, with whom Chief Justice Marshall and Justice Sosman join; Justice Ireland, with whom Justice Cordy joins; and Justice Cowin, with whom Justice Greaney and Justice Spina join.

CORDY, J. (concurring, with whom Marshall, C.J., and Sosman, J., join). The school district of Beverly (district) appealed from the order of a Superior Court judge affirming an arbitration award reinstating James Geller, a sixth grade teacher, who had been discharged for physically and verbally abusing his students on multiple occasions. The district asserts that the award reinstating Geller was beyond the arbitrator's authority, contrary to the best interests of the students, and violative of a public policy prohibiting teachers from using physical force against students.

The Superior Court judge concluded that the arbitrator acted within the scope of his authority in ordering reinstatement. The Appeals Court reversed and vacated the arbitrator's award, holding that Geller's reinstatement offended "a clear and well defined public policy against the use of physical force, however slight, by a teacher against students." School Dist. of Beverly v. Geller, 50 Mass. App. Ct. 290, 297 (2000). This court granted Geller's application for further appellate review.

This is the first occasion in which we have considered the dismissal of a teacher under the provisions of G. L. c. 71, § 42, as appearing in St. 1993, c. 71, § 44, the Education Reform Act of 1993.² I believe that the arbitrator exceeded the authority granted him by G. L. c. 71, § 42, when he substituted his own judgment as to proper discipline for that of the district, after finding in substance that the district had sustained its burden of proving that Geller had engaged in "conduct unbecoming a teacher," one of the statutorily enumerated bases on which teachers with professional teacher status can be dismissed.³ 1. Factual background. Geller was employed as a teacher in the district for over twenty years and had attained professional teacher status (formerly known as tenure), as defined in G. L. c. 71, § 41. He was dismissed in October, 1996, by the principal of the school in which he taught, with the approval of the superintendent of schools, for conduct unbecoming a teacher after it was determined that Geller had used physical force against students on three separate occasions. Geller appealed from his discharge to an arbitrator pursuant to G. L. c. 71, § 42, fourth par.

After conducting an evidentiary hearing the arbitrator found that Geller had engaged in the conduct alleged by the district and that "[p]ushing [students] against a wall and yelling in their faces is totally inappropriate."⁴ He further found that Geller's conduct was "unacceptable" and "cannot be condoned." With respect to the penalty of dismissal, the arbitrator noted that, "once having determined that misconduct occurred, the School Department has substantial discretion in determining the level of discipline to be imposed." He concluded, however, that the appropriateness of the discipline had to be measured against more than twenty years of service, no prior disciplinary problems, and good prior evaluations. Without elaboration, he found that, "[i]t is in the best interest of the students that a teacher of Mr. Geller's accomplishments and experienced [sic] be retained." He then ruled that the district had "just cause to impose severe discipline, short of discharge," directed that "the decision in this case constitutes a final warning to [Geller]," and ordered that Geller be reinstated at the start of the 1997-1998 school year without back pay. In his award the arbitrator found that "the dismissal of James Geller [was] not for just cause within the meaning of Chapter 71, Section 42," and in effect reduced Geller's dismissal to an unpaid suspension of approximately one school year.

2. Standard of review. A teacher with professional teacher status, such as Geller, can be dismissed only for "inefficiency, incompetency, incapacity, conduct unbecoming a teacher, insubordination or failure ... to satisfy teacher performance standards ... or other just cause" (emphasis added). G. L. c. 71, § 42, third par. If a teacher with this status is discharged, he or she may seek review of the dismissal by filing a petition for arbitration. G. L. c. 71, § 42, fourth par. At an arbitration hearing, the school district has the burden of proving the grounds for dismissal, in this case, conduct unbecoming a teacher. G. L. c. 71, § 42, fifth par. In determining whether the school district has satisfied its burden, the arbitrator must consider the best interests of the pupils in the district and the need to elevate standards of performance. Id. The arbitrator is required to issue a "detailed statement of the reasons for [his] decision." G. L. c. 71, § 42, sixth par.

The arbitrator's decision is subject to judicial review as provided in G. L. c. 150C (concerning collective bargaining agreements to arbitrate). G. L. c. 71, § 42, sixth par. Our role in reviewing an arbitrator's award pursuant to G. L. c. 150C, § 11, is limited. Bureau of Special Investigations v. Coalition of Pub. Safety, 430 Mass. 601, 603 (2000), quoting Concerned Minority Educators of Worcester v. School Comm. of Worcester, 392 Mass. 184, 187 (1984). Unlike our review of factual findings and legal rulings made by a trial judge, we are bound by an arbitrator's findings and legal conclusions. "The courts are not authorized to reconsider the merits of an award even though the parties may allege that the award rests on errors of fact or on misinterpretation of the contract." United Paperworkers Int'l Union v. Misco, Inc., 484 U.S. 29, 36 (1987) (Misco). See Plymouth-Carver Regional Sch. Dist. v. J. Farmer & Co., 407 Mass. 1006, 1007 (1990); School Comm. of Waltham v. Waltham Educators Ass'n, 398 Mass. 703, 705 (1986) (arbitrator's decision may not be vacated on error of fact or error of law). "Even a grossly erroneous [arbitration] decision is binding in the absence of fraud" (citation omitted). Trustees of the Boston & Me. Corp. v. Massachusetts Bay Transp. Auth., 363 Mass. 386, 390 (1973). This narrow scope of judicial review reflects a strong public policy favoring arbitration. Plymouth-Carver Regional Sch. Dist. v. J. Farmer & Co., supra at 1007. However, if, on review, the court finds that an arbitrator has exceeded his authority in fashioning an award, the court is required to vacate it. G. L. c. 150C, § 11 (a) (3).⁵ Local 589, Amalgamated Transit Union v. Massachusetts Bay Transp. Auth., 392 Mass. 407, 410-411 (1984) (whether arbitrator exceeded scope of his authority is question always open to judicial review).

3. Arbitrator's scope of authority. The power and authority of an arbitrator is ordinarily derived entirely from a collective bargaining contract, and he violates his obligation to the parties if he substitutes "`his own brand of industrial justice' for what has been agreed to by the parties in that contract." Georgia-Pacific Corp. v. Local 27, United Paperworkers Int'l Union, 864 F.2d 940, 944 (1st Cir. 1988), quoting United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 597 (1960). An arbitrator cannot "transcend[] the limits of the contract of which the agreement to arbitrate is but a part." Plymouth-Carver Regional Sch. Dist. v. J. Farmer & Co., supra, quoting Lawrence v. Falzarano, 380 Mass. 18, 28 (1980). Stated differently, an arbitrator's "award is legitimate only so long as it draws its essence from the collective bargaining agreement" that he is confined to interpret and apply. United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., supra at 597. School Comm. of Waltham v. Waltham Educators Ass'n, supra at 706-707. In performing his responsibilities, the arbitrator exceeds his authority if he ignores the plain language of the contract. Misco, supra at 38.

In this case the source of the authority to arbitrate the dismissal of a teacher is a statute, not a collective bargaining contract. This important difference informs this court's determination of how the arbitrator's powers are to be ascertained and interpreted.

In the collective bargaining context, the arbitrator is ordinarily empowered to interpret the underlying contract and the extent of his powers thereunder. Such authority comes from the parties having agreed to it in the contract itself and is consistent with the notion that arbitrators have special expertise in the interpretation of collective bargaining agreements. See School Comm. of Danvers v. Tyman, 372 Mass. 106, 115 (1977) (interpreting collective bargaining agreement ordinarily task for arbitrator and not court); School Comm. of Hanover v. Curry, 369 Mass. 685, 685 (1976) ("We do not review the arbitrator's interpretation of the agreement, since that subject is committed to the arbitrator by the agreement"). See also Misco, supra at 37-38 ("it is the arbitrator's view of the facts and of the meaning of the contract that [the parties] have agreed to accept"). But as the United States Supreme Court noted long ago, "the specialized competence of arbitrators pertains primarily to the law of the...