MARY ANN BLANCHETTE, APPELLANT,
v.
SCHOOL BOARD OF LEON COUNTY, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
This case involves a teacher's appeal of a school board's refusal to grant a Section 120.57(1) formal hearing regarding a leave of absence entitlement. The court held that grievable disputes arising from collective bargaining agreements must first be resolved through the contractually-mandated arbitration procedure rather than through administrative procedure act (APA) proceedings.
The court held that when parties have contracted through their bargaining representatives to arbitrate grievable disputes arising out of a collective bargaining agreement, those disputes must be resolved through arbitration rather than through APA procedures. The school board properly refused to resolve the grievable dispute unilaterally through APA procedures where it was contractually obligated to arbitrate the matter.
[1] Grievable disputes arising out of a collective bargaining agreement must be resolved through the agreed-upon grievance procedure, including arbitration, if possible.
[2] Parties who contract to arbitrate grievable disputes are obliged to resolve them through arbitration rather than administrative procedure act (APA) processes.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“It is understood and agreed that the resolution of complaints which are grievable or litigable shall be pursued through the grievance procedure until such remedy is exhausted.”
Language from the collective bargaining agreement showing the parties' contractual commitment to exhaust grievance procedures before pursuing other remedies.
Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMary Ann Blanchette, a teacher, requested a Section 120.57(1) formal hearing from the School Board of Leon County claiming entitlement to an unpaid le…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Final And Binding Arbitration cases and more on FLexlaw
ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., Judge.
Blanchette appeals from a School Board order denying her request for a Section 120.57(1) formal hearing on her claim of entitlement to an unpaid leave of absence from her teaching position in school year 1978-79. The issue was one subject to the grievance procedure incorporated in the collective bargaining agreement between the school board and the collective bargaining agent for the unit of which Blanchette was a member. The agreement provided:
It is understood and agreed that the resolution of complaints which are grievable or litigable shall be pursued through the grievance procedure until such remedy is exhausted.
Step III of the grievance procedure contracted for was “final and binding” arbitration.
It is questionable whether Blan-chette’s complaint involves a disputed issue of material fact, which is essential to Section 120.57(1) proceedings. The hearing afforded Blanchette may well have satisfied Section 120.57(2), although no order satisfying Section 120.59 was entered on the merits. At any rate, the School Board properly refused to resolve unilaterally, by APA procedures, a grievable dispute which the Board was obliged by contract to arbitrate with the collective bargaining representative of its teacher employees. When parties through their bargaining representatives have contracted to arbitrate grievable disputes arising out of the collective bargaining agreement, grievable disputes must be resolved in that manner, if possible, rather than through APA procedures whose object is a final order expressing the decision of the employer-agency and determining a party’s substantial interests. If following arbitration any issues remain which are subject to Chapter 120 processes, they may be resolved, on appropriate petition, by formal or informal proceedings.
AFFIRMED.
MILLS, C. J., and MITCHELL, HENRY CLAY, Jr., Associate Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Fla. Dep't OF Transp. v. J. W. C. Co., Inc., 396 So. 2d 778 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)…formal Section 120.57(1) hearing may properly be granted, for it is clear that the petitioner must first demonstrate by appropriate pleading that there are disputed issues of fact requiring such a hearing. Blanchette v. School Board of Leon County, 378 So. 2d 68 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979), United States Service Industries — Florida v. Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, 383 So. 2d 728 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). We totally agree with the sentiments expressed by amicus curiae Agrico that no third party, “mer…
-
Sickon v. The Sch. Bd. OF Alachua Cnty., 719 So. 2d 360 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…nt band director’s supplemental position in 1997-98. But she did not grieve the assignment itself, although she now alleges that the assignment violated rights under the collective bargaining agreement. In Blanchette v. School Board of Leon County, 378 So. 2d 68, 69 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979), we enforced a provision in a collective bargaining agreement requiring arbitration of disputes “arising out of the collective bargaining agreement.” When parties through their bargaining representatives have contracted to a…
-
Ruel A. Galbreath v. The Sch. Bd. OF Broward Cnty., 446 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 1984)…is entitled to pursue the grievance to arbitration, and the public employer is under a concomitant obligation to process the grievance in accordance with the terms set forth in the agreement. See generally, Blanchett v. School Board of Leon County, 378 So. 2d 68 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); Manatee County Municipal Employees Local 1584 v. Manatee County School Board, 6 FPER ¶ 11188 (1980). Therefore, the grievant’s right to a fair and equitable grievance procedure mandated by Section 447.401 is protected by allowin…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence