Springfield Teachers Ass'n v. Springfield School Directors

• Decision Date: 10 October 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-349,96-349
• Citation: 167 Vt. 180,705 A.2d 541
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court
• Parties: , 123 Ed. Law Rep. 1205 SPRINGFIELD TEACHERS ASSOCIATION, Vermont-NEA & Joseph Roy, v. SPRINGFIELD SCHOOL DIRECTORS.

Page 541

705 A.2d 541

167 Vt. 180, 123 Ed. Law Rep. 1205

SPRINGFIELD TEACHERS ASSOCIATION, Vermont-NEA & Joseph Roy, v. SPRINGFIELD SCHOOL DIRECTORS.

No. 96-349.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

Oct. 10, 1997.

Donna Watts, Montpelier, for plaintiffs-appellees.

Georgiana O. Miranda and Glenn C. Howland of McKee, Giuliani & Cleveland, P.C., Montpelier, for defendant-appellant.

Before GIBSON, DOOLEY, MORSE and JOHNSON, JJ., and ALLEN, C.J. (Ret.), Specially Assigned.

DOOLEY, Justice.

This is an appeal by defendant Springfield Board of School Directors from a superior court decision confirming an arbitration award and payment of back wages to plaintiff Joseph Roy. On appeal, the board argues that (1) the superior court lacked jurisdiction because the arbitration award was not final; (2) the court improperly granted summary judgment; (3) the court improperly rejected its affirmative defenses; and (4) the court erred in dismissing the board's counterclaim. We affirm in part, and vacate and remand in part.

Roy was hired by defendant in 1990 for one year to teach vocationally oriented courses in the Occupational Development Program (ODP), a special education program at Springfield High School. His full-time position was created by merging two half-time positions, one of which was a temporary vacancy created by a leave of absence. Roy was not licensed to teach special education courses, and defendant's superintendent obtained a special waiver so Roy could teach for a year.

After Roy received his certificate to teach special education courses, he accepted a contract to teach again for the 1991-92 school year. During that year, the superintendent notified Roy that the position would not be available thereafter because the leave of absence of the half-time teacher was ending and the other half-time position was being eliminated. However, an ODP teacher, who was teaching academic courses, announced her resignation and created a vacancy. Roy applied for the vacancy, but was found unqualified because he could not perform student assessments and had limited skills in math and other academic subjects.

Roy grieved the decision not to hire him for the ODP vacancy, arguing that he had reduction-in-force (RIF) rights to be offered available alternative positions and that he was qualified for the ODP position. Although he continued to pursue his grievance, he was thereafter offered a half-time position for the 1992-93 school year, which he accepted. On August 12, 1993, he resigned this position and moved away, authorizing the Springfield Teachers Association and the Vermont-National Education Association, hereinafter referred to together as VT-NEA, to continue to pursue the grievance. VT-NEA chose to continue the grievance because it believed the board had attempted to avoid RIF rights in this and other cases by using one-year employment contracts in violation of the collective bargaining agreement.

The grievance was arbitrated on September 22, 1993. The issues at arbitration were (1) whether the grievance was arbitrable, and if so, (2) whether the board had violated its master agreement with VT-NEA when it refused to offer Roy the full-time position. On December 20, 1993, the arbitrator issued her award, finding that the grievance was arbitrable, reinstating Roy to a full-time position with full seniority, and ordering that Roy be made "whole for earnings lost." The arbitrator made no earnings calculation, nor did she specifically retain jurisdiction until the parties did so.

The parties agreed to delay Roy's reinstatement until the 1994-95 school year. They were unable, however, to agree on the amount of back wages to be paid him. On June 13, 1995, Roy and VT-NEA filed an application to confirm the arbitration award in Windsor Superior Court, seeking enforcement of the back pay provision of the arbitrator's award. The application acknowledged that Roy had been reinstated and stated that he had presented an accounting of his lost wages and benefits but the board had refused to pay the back wages owed. In its reply, the board raised numerous affirmative defenses and filed a counterclaim claiming that although Roy had accepted reinstatement and signed a contract to teach for the 1994-95 school year, he had breached his contract by refusing to teach. On June 20, 1996, the Windsor Superior Court granted plaintiffs' application, entered judgment for Roy in the amount of $32,306, and dismissed defendant's affirmative defenses and counterclaim. The board appeals these determinations. ¹

The board's main argument is that the arbitration award cannot be enforced because it did not reduce the back pay award to a specific amount, and therefore, was not final. In addressing this point, we start with our policy toward arbitration awards and a review of the applicable law.

"Vermont has a strong tradition of upholding arbitration awards whenever possible." R.E. Bean Constr. Co. v. Middlebury Assocs., 139 Vt. 200, 204, 428 A.2d 306, 309 (1980). This Court has long recognized the importance of arbitration as an alternative to litigation for the efficient resolution of disputes. See In re Robinson/Keir Partnership, 154 Vt. 50, 53, 573 A.2d 1188, 1189 (1990). If courts were permitted to broadly question the determinations of an arbitrator, then arbitration would become merely "another expensive and time consuming layer to the already complex litigation process." R.E. Bean Constr. Co., 139 Vt. at 204-05, 428 A.2d at 309. Instead, the trial court should, in effect, act " 'as an appellate tribunal with a limited scope of review.' " Matzen Constr., Inc. v. Leander Anderson Corp., 152 Vt. 174, 177, 565 A.2d 1320, 1322 (1989) (quoting Wayne Insulation Co. v. Hex Corp., 534 A.2d 1279, 1281 (D.C.1987)).

This case is governed by the Vermont Arbitration Act (VAA), 12 V.S.A. §§ 5651-5681, which is based on the Uniform Arbitration Act, see 7 U.L.A. 6 (1997). Under the VAA, a court shall confirm an arbitration award unless grounds are established to vacate or modify it. See 12 V.S.A. § 5676; Matzen Constr., 152 Vt. at 177, 565 A.2d at 1322. The grounds for vacating or modifying arbitration awards are limited by statute. See 12 V.S.A. §§ 5676-5678. We will not review the arbitrator's decision for errors of fact or law, see Muzzy v. Chevrolet Div., General Motors Corp., 153 Vt. 179, 184, 571 A.2d 609, 612 (1989), but rather we will confine our review to (1) whether there exist statutory grounds for vacating or modifying the arbitration award, and (2) whether the parties were afforded due process. See Matzen Constr., 152 Vt. at 177, 565 A.2d at 1322.

The VAA does not state that an award must be final to be confirmed. Nevertheless, we have required finality in similar contexts, see In re Central Vt. Ry., 148 Vt. 177, 178, 530 A.2d 579, 580 (1987); In re Estate of Webster, 117 Vt. 550, 552, 96 A.2d 816, 817 (1953), and courts applying statutes taken from the Uniform Arbitration Act have required finality. See Harris v. Allied American Ins. Co., 152 Ill.App.3d 88, 105 Ill.Dec. 282, 283, 504 N.E.2d 151, 152 (1987).

The arbitrator's award in this case was as final as it could be. It was impossible to know when Roy would be reinstated and how much back pay would be due at that time. More important, Roy acknowledged that he would have to offset the employment income he actually received during the period he was deprived of the teaching position by defendant, and the amount of that income was not before the arbitrator. The arbitrator probably expected that once she rendered a decision the parties would agree on the back pay amount.

On the other hand, we cannot accept the trial court's conclusion that "all that was left was a simple calculation." In response to the application to confirm the award, defendant answered that Roy had failed to mitigate his damages and there had been no evidence on that point.

We believe the proper resolution of this situation is to sever the award and confirm the arbitrator's decision on the merits, but refer the matter back to the arbitrator for determination of the back pay award. This resolution was adopted by the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine in Lisbon Sch. Comm. v. Lisbon Ed. Ass'n, 438 A.2d 239, 245 (Me.1981), a case with facts virtually identical to those before us. There, the court acknowledged that the trial court could make the calculation if it involved "the mere carrying out of a ministerial act in accordance with a clear formula," id.; see 12 V.S.A. § 5678(b)(1) (court may modify award if it is based on "evident miscalculation of figures"), but not where the calculation is more than ministerial. Lisbon Sch. Comm., 438 A.2d at 245. It held, however, that the remand need not upset the entire award:

It is not necessary that the entire award be referred back, however; the finding that the Committee violated the Agreement, and the order of immediate reinstatement may be confirmed and enforced. Severing the award to allow prompt enforcement of the reinstatement order while providing for a definite determination by the arbitrator of back pay due is in accord with the principle that the parties bargained for an award of an arbitrator, not of a court, and furthers "the manifest purpose of grievance arbitration as a final, speedy, inexpensive dispute settlement mechanism."

Id. (quoting Board of Sch. Directors v. Tri-Town Teachers Ass'n, 412 A.2d 990, 994 (Me.1980)). We agree with the reasoning of the Maine Supreme Court. The superior court order in this case confirmed the award of the arbitrator and adopted plaintiffs' proposed back pay award. On this issue, we agree with the confirmation order, but the superior court must remand the matter to the arbitrator to determine the back pay award.

Next, the board argues that any confirmation order cannot stand because the manner in which the application was treated by the court denied it due process of law. Plaintiffs filed an application to confirm the arbitration award in ...