CITY OF WINTER PARK, PETITIONER,
v.
FLORIDA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RELATIONS COMMISSION AND WINTER PARK PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS, LOCAL 1598, RESPONDENTS
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The City of Winter Park challenged a Public Employees Relations Commission order allowing captains and lieutenants to be included in a collective bargaining unit with other fire department employees. The court upheld the Commission's determination that these officers were neither managerial nor confidential employees and thus entitled to collective bargaining rights under Florida law.
The captains and lieutenants are not excluded from the bargaining unit as managerial or confidential employees and are entitled to collective bargaining rights. The Commission's order allowing their inclusion in the bargaining unit and permitting a self-determination election is supported by competent substantial evidence and does not depart from legal requirements.
[1] Public Employees Relations Commission orders regarding the inclusion of employees in bargaining units are subject to judicial review for departures from essential legal r…
[2] The determination of whether an employee is managerial or confidential, and thus excluded from collective bargaining rights, requires a factual determination on a case-by…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“It is obvious by these definitions that a factual determination must be made in each individual case as to whether certain employees fall within these categories or not.”
Establishes that managerial and confidential employee status requires case-by-case factual analysis
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe Winter Park fire department consists of a Chief, Deputy Chief, Fire Marshall, three captains, three lieutenants, and 29 other employees. In the pr…
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PER CURIAM.
This is a review of an order of the Public Employees Relations Commission pursuant to a petition for review filed by the City of Winter Park. The petition challenges the correctness of an order allowing the inclusion of captains and lieutenants in a bargaining unit with other fire department employees. The City claims that the captains and lieutenants are “managerial employees”1 and “confidential employees”2 and therefore are not entitled to the collective bargaining rights provided in Chapter 447, Florida Statutes (1975).
Section 447.203 provides definitions for “managerial” and “confidential” employees who are to be excluded from collective bargaining. It is obvious by these definitions that a factual determination must be made in each individual case as to whether certain employees fall within these categories or not. Once this determination is made by the Commission our authority is limited to a determination of whether there has been a departure from the essential requirements of law and whether there is competent substantial evidence to support the determination.
The Winter Park fire department consists of a Chief, Deputy Chief, Fire Marshall, three captains, three lieutenants, and 29 other employees. In the previous collective bargaining agreement of the parties the captains and lieutenants were included in the same unit with the other employees. On the question of being included with the other employees this time, the officers voted 4-0 in favor of inclusion. Extensive testimony was taken in the proceedings below as to the duties and responsibilities of the captains and lieutenants.3 Our examination of that record confirms the existence of competent substantial evidence to support the Commission’s conclusion that the officers are not excluded, as managerial or confidential employees, from the bargaining unit. We find no departure from the requirements of law in the Commission’s order for a self determination election by the captains and lieutenants.4
Accordingly, the petition for review is denied.
ALDERMAN, C. J., and MAGER and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur. . § 447.203(4).
. § 447.203(5).
. There are four volumes of testimony consisting of 932 pages.
. § 447.307.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Bd. OF Regents of the State of Fla. v. Pub. Emps. Relations Comm'n, 368 So. 2d 641 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)…tation. For example, it has been held that whether the exemptions provided to “managerial” or “confidential” employees apply is a factual determination to be made by the Commission on a case by case basis. City of Winter Park v. Fla. Pub. Emp. Rel., 349 So. 2d 224 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977). It is equally clear to me that one may be in the apparent “employment” of a “public employer” and still not be a “public employee”, even without a specific exemption in Section 447.203(3). [*644] In the recent case of Murphy v.…
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Fla. Pub. Emps. Council 79, AFSCME, AFL-CIO v. Pub. Emps. Relations Comm'n & Fla. Bd. of Governors, 871 So. 2d 270 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004)…is a factual issue to be determined by PERC, and a reviewing court’s role “is limited to a determination of whether there is competent, substantial evidence to support the determination”); City of Winter Park v. Fla. Pub. Employees Relations Comm’n, 349 So. 2d 224, 225 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977) (same). Here, PERC made no factual determination regarding whether the boards of trustees satisfy the general definition of a “public employer” set out in section 447.203(2). It seems to me that such a determination is requ…
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City OF Jacksonville v. Jacksonville Ass'n OF Fire Fighters, 365 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)…partment, the results of which decided whether the officers should be included in a unit with privates, comprise a separate unit, or reject representation in any unit, we affirm. (City of Winter Park v. Florida Public Employees Relations Commission, 349 So. 2d 224 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977)) Accordingly, PERC’s orders no. 76E-768 and 78E-124 are affirmed. IT IS SO ORDERED. McCORD, C. J. and MELVIN, J., concur.…
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