290 Conn. 421 | Conn. | 2009
Lead Opinion
Opinion
The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the collective bargaining agreement (agreement) between the named defendant, the town of Greenwich (town), and the Silver Shield Association,
The following facts and procedural history are relevant to our resolution of the present appeal. On April 4,2003, the town announced that an examination would be administered to fill a vacancy for the position of police captain in the town police department. The announcement stated that the examination would be “100 [percent]—Assessment Center.” In an assessment center examination, independent assessors evaluate a candidate’s qualifications through a variety of testing procedures including role-playing, written examinations and interviews. The agreement between the town and the union, in part, limits the potential pool of applicants eligible for promotion to police captain—and
Subsequent to Walters’ decision to promote Pacewicz, the union brought an action to enjoin the promotion temporarily. After the trial court denied the ex parte injunction and scheduled a hearing for July 1, 2003, the town officially promoted Pacewicz to police captain.
The plaintiff then filed this action against the defendants, bringing claims for breach of contract, promis-soiy estoppel, quo warranto and mandamus, as well as for violations of the plaintiffs right to due process and equal protection under the federal and state constitutions.
On the basis of these findings, the trial court granted quo warranto and mandamus relief, ordering that Pacewicz be removed from the position of police captain and that the plaintiff be promoted to that position. In addition, the trial court awarded the plaintiff $71,506.66 in back pay and prejudgment interest and $3450 for the loss of the use of a vehicle, which the
I
The crux of this appeal is whether any provision within the agreement or any other applicable town document requires the town to promote the candidate with the highest ranked score to the position of police captain, or whether the town has discretion to promote any eligible candidate. The plaintiff claims that the trial court properly determined the town’s past practices required the town to promote the candidate with the
In order to illuminate the basis of the parties’ arguments, we first briefly review the history of the agreement and the town’s promotional practices. The critical moment came on July 1, 1999, when the town and the union amended the agreement.
Several months after the amended agreement took effect, the town posted an announcement for two new police captain vacancies. As with the announcement in the present appeal, that announcement called for a 100 percent assessment center examination. Lieutenants Michael DeAngelo and David Ridberg received the two highest scores, and the police chief at the time, Peter Robbins, promoted both of them to the respective captain vacancies. The plaintiff contends that these events support his claim that, irrespective of the fact that the captain’s position was removed from the bargaining unit, the past practices clause in the agreement continued to require the town to promote the highest scoring candidate or candidates to police captain. The town contends that, while Robbins did in fact promote the two highest scoring candidates, neither the agreement nor the pay plan and policy manual required him to do so.
Because the resolution of this issue calls for the interpretation of both a collective bargaining agreement and various municipal rules and regulations, we set forth our standard of review. Principles of statutory construction govern our interpretation of the town policy manual and pay plan. See Kelly v. New Haven, 275 Conn. 580, 607, 881 A.2d 978 (2005) (“[a]s with any issue of statu
“[I]n construing contracts, we give effect to all the language included therein, as the law of contract inter
We now turn to the merits of the fundamental question in this appeal, namely, whether the agreement applies and requires the town to promote the candidate with the highest assessment score to the position of police captain.
To better understand the question before us, we first frame the issue with reference to the five primary positions within the town police department, namely, the positions of sergeant, lieutenant, captain, deputy police chief and chief of police.
We must first determine the manner in which the agreement, the policy manual and the pay plan relate to one another. After reviewing these documents,
On appeal, the plaintiff contends that the inclusion of paragraph D, which, in part, requires the promotion of a bargaining unit member, keeps the protections of the past practices clause in place during the promotional process for the captain’s position. As a result, the plaintiff claims that the past practices clause requires the town to promote the highest scoring candidate. In order to prevail on this claim, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the past practices clause protects the practice at issue. At the outset, however, we observe that, because paragraph D deals specifically with the subject matter at issue, namely, promotion to police captain, reliance on past practices is inappropriate. See F. Elkouri & E. Elkouri, How Arbitration Works (A. Ruben ed., 6th Ed. 2003) c. 12, pp. 622, 627 (past practices clause invalid if it nullifies or broadens express provision; labor law arbitrators refuse to consider evidence of past practices inconsistent with provision that is clear and unambiguous on its face, citing to numerous arbitration and federal court cases that express similar views). To the extent, however, that the dissent is based on past practices, we address the merits of that argument.
We begin by setting forth well established principles of labor law in relation to promotions to positions outside the bargaining unit and to the effect of past practices clauses. Pursuant to these principles, the question of whether the past practices clause applies turns on whether the promotional process to a position outside the bargaining unit constitutes a mandatory or nonman-datory subject of bargaining.
The general rule that promotion to a position outside the bargaining unit is not a mandatory subject of bargaining specifically was applied to the present case. In denying the grievance filed by the union on the plaintiff s behalf, the state board of mediation and arbitration (board) concluded that “[s]ince the promotional process for this nonbargaining unit position ([c]aptain) is outside the mandatory bargaining scope, the subject matter of the [ujnion’s complaint cannot be reviewed through the [contractual grievance and arbitration process.”
The significance of the distinction between mandatoiy versus nonmandatory
Our state labor relations board also has addressed the issue of whether a past practices clause protects nonmandatory subjects of bargaining. It has concluded that past practices clauses that protect employees’ “benefits,” such as the clause at issue, protect only mandatory subjects of bargaining. In re Connecticut, Conn. Board of Labor Relations Decision No. 2662 (August 26, 1988) (“[t]he term ‘benefits’ clearly falls within the purview of wages, hours and conditions of
In making this conclusion, we pay particular attention to two other provisions within the agreement. First, article XXIII of the agreement, entitled “Arbitration and Grievance Procedure,” limits grievances to those concerning “wages, hours, or conditions of employment, which wages, hours, or conditions are controlled by this agreement . . . .” It is significant that the agreement expressly limits grievances to mandatory subjects of bargaining, as evinced by the reference to “wages, hours, or conditions of employment,” and does not offer arbitrability of nonmandatory subjects of bargaining.
We also observe that our conclusion leaves intact the current status of labor law in our state. To conclude that past practices clauses protect nonmandatory subjects of bargaining, in the absence of express language to the contrary, would set forth a rule of law that might have the perverse effect of encouraging municipalities and other employers to behave erratically with respect to permissive subjects of bargaining so as not to create a past practice precedent. That we will not do.
Rather than demonstrate how the past practices clause incorporates the practice at issue, the dissent makes a subtle but significant departure from the plaintiffs argument. The dissent pivots away from reliance
Proceeding with this tool of construction, the dissent bases its ultimate conclusion on an interpretation of the term “promotional list” independent of that term’s definition in the pay plan. Contrary to the dissent, both parties rely on the pay plan’s definition of that term. Moreover, to supplement the dissent’s independent interpretation of “promotional list,” it asserts that the town’s definition also is consistent with the past practice of promoting the highest ranked candidate.
Even assuming that some other language in the agreement could be construed to govern promotion to police captain, a careful review of the record reveals no evidence to support that the town ever engaged in a past practice where it promoted the highest scoring candidate who was a member inside the bargaining unit to a position outside the bargaining unit. Although the trial court found that for thirty years, the town routinely had promoted the highest scoring candidate, that evidence was overwhehningly limited to circumstances where all the candidates and the positions themselves were inside the bargaining unit.
In sum, absent a demonstration of how the past practices clause can preserve a nonmandatory subject of bargaining or how another agreement provision unambiguously supports the contention that the town did in fact agree to bargain over promoting the highest ranking candidate to police captain, the plaintiffs argument must fail.
II
We next address the town’s claim that the trial court improperly concluded that the town deprived the plaintiff of his property interest without due process of law in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, by promoting Pacewicz to police captain even though the plaintiff had received the highest examination score. The trial court concluded, on the basis of its conclusion that the past practices clause required the town to promote the highest scoring candidate, that the plaintiff had a property interest in the promotion to the position of police captain. The trial court determined that the plaintiffs “expectation of promotion based upon his rank on the promotion list rises to the level of a constitutionally protected property interest.” On appeal, the defendants
“Our due process inquiry takes the form of a two part analysis. [W]e must determine whether [the plaintiff] was deprived of a protected interest, and, if so, what process was . . . due.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Giaimo v. New Haven, 257 Conn. 481, 499, 778 A.2d 33 (2001). If a claimant does not sufficiently establish the existence of a constitutionally protected interest, the due process analysis ceases because no process is constitutionally due for the deprivation of an interest that is not of constitutional magnitude. Hunt v. Prior, 236 Conn. 421, 442, 673 A.2d 514 (1996).
“To have a property interest in a benefit, a person clearly must have more than an abstract need or desire for it. He must have more than a unilateral expectation of it. He must, instead, have a legitimate claim of entitlement to it. It is a purpose of the ancient institution of property to protect those claims upon which people rely in their daily lives, reliance that must not be arbitrarily undermined. It is a purpose of the constitutional right to a hearing to provide an opportunity for a person to vindicate those claims.
“Property interests, of course, are not created by the [constitution. Rather, they are created and their dimensions are defined by existing rules or understandings that stem from an independent source such as state law—rules or understandings that secure certain benefits and that support claims of entitlement to those benefits.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Giaimo v. New Haven, supra, 257 Conn. 499, quoting Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 577, 92 S. Ct. 2701, 33 L. Ed. 2d 548 (1972).
Because we conclude that the plaintiff does not have a constitutionally protected property interest, the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees to the plaintiff cannot stand.
Ill
As an alternate ground for affirmance, the plaintiff contends that the trial court improperly denied his claim that the town, Walters and Cava violated his constitutional right to equal protection of the laws pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The plaintiff advances two theories in support of his claim: (1) that the decision to pass him over for promotion was driven by a malicious intent to injure in violation of the test announced in LeClair v. Saunders, 627 F.2d 606, 609-10 (2d Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 959, 101 S. Ct. 1418, 67 L. Ed. 2d 383 (1981); and (2) the town did not have a rational basis to promote Pacewicz over the plaintiff in violation of the test articulated in Willowbrook v. Olech, 528 U.S. 562, 564, 120 S. Ct. 1073, 145 L. Ed. 2d 1060 (2000). We are not persuaded.
The following additional facts are relevant to our resolution of this claim. In short, the plaintiff argues
We turn to the merits of the plaintiffs claim. As we have stated, “[t]he decisions of the federal circuit in which a state court is located are entitled to great weight in the interpretation of a federal statute. This is particularly true in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 cases, where the federal statute confers concurrent jurisdiction on the federal and state courts.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Red Maple Properties v. Zoning Commission, 222 Conn. 730, 739 n.7, 610 A.2d 1238 (1992). We, therefore, look to recent decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for guidance on the
“The [e]qual [protection [cjlause of the [fourteenth [ajmendment to the United States [constitution is essentially a direction that all persons similarly situated should be treated alike.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Zahra v. Southold, 48 F.3d 674, 683 (2d Cir. 1995). In LeClair, the Second Circuit stated that a violation of equal protection by selective treatment arises if: “(1) the person, compared with others similarly situated, was selectively treated; and (2) . . . such selective treatment was based on impermissible considerations such as race, religion, intent to inhibit or punish the exercise of constitutional rights, or malicious or bad faith intent to injure a person.” LeClair v. Saunders, supra, 627 F.2d 609-10. “[When a plaintiff] does not allege selective treatment based upon his race, religion, or any intentional effort by [the] defendants to punish him for exercising his constitutional rights, [the plaintiff] must demonstrate that [the] defendants maliciously singled [him] out . . . with the intent to injure him.” Crowley v. Courville, 76 F.3d 47, 52-53 (2d Cir. 1996); see also Thomas v. West Haven, supra, 249 Conn. 393.
Pursuant to the foregoing principles, the plaintiffs claim must fail. The plaintiff cannot demonstrate that the defendants maliciously singled him out with an intent to injure. The trial court found that, at most, the incidents involving the plaintiff and Walters established
The judgment is reversed with respect to the claims of breach of contract, due process, quo warranto and mandamus and the case is remanded to the trial court with direction to render judgment in favor of the defendants on those claims; the judgment is affirmed in all other respects.
In this opinion NORCOTT and ZARELLA, Js., concurred.
The Silver Shield Association is the authorized union representing the uniformed and investigatory personnel in the town police department. It filed an amicus brief on behalf of the plaintiff.
The defendants named in the complaint consisted of the town; its police chief, James A. Walters; its deputy chief, Pasquale Chila; its human resources director, Alfred C. Cava; and its candidate promoted to police captain, Lieutenant Michael A. Pacewicz. At the close of the plaintiffs case, all counts against Chila were dropped. We refer to Walters, Cava, Pacewicz and the town collectively as the defendants and individually by name when appropriate.
The defendants petitioned this court for certification to appeal pursuant to General Statutes § 52-265a (a), which permits a direct appeal in an action
Our resolution of the defendants’ first two claims make it unnecessary to reach their third claim that the trial court improperly measured damages.
Paragraph D of article XXV of the agreement provides: “Promotion to the classification of [pjolice [cjaptain shall be made from bargaining unit employees who are candidates certified to the promotional list.”
The pay plan sets forth rules regarding personnel, salary and administration and is approved by the town’s board of estimate and taxation and by the town’s legislative body. The policy manual is approved by the town’s board of estimate and taxation and by the first selectman and is a guide for day-to-day administration of the town’s personnel programs to be used in conjunction with the charter, pay plan and applicable collective bargaining agreements.
Section 4.1.19 of the pay plan defines “[pjromotional [ljist” as: “A list of qualified employees who have passed a promotional examination for a position in the classified service and ranked on the list in the order of the score received, signed and approved by the Director of Human Resources.”
Honulik and Pacewicz received overall scores of 86.06 percent and 84.85 percent, respectively. The town divided the applicants, on the basis of their examination scores, into categories ranging from “Band I-Exceptional” to “Band Vi-Very Marginal.” Both the plaintiff and Pacewicz were categorized as “Band Hi-Qualified.” The three other applicants were categorized as either “Band IV-Moderately Qualified” or “Band Vi-Very Marginal.”
Walters testified that he consulted with Cava to confirm that he could interview the candidates after the examination.
Walters also testified that he confirmed with Cava that he could promote a candidate out of rank order.
The union did not pursue the ipjunction action after Pacewicz was promoted, and the action was dismissed for dormancy on June 1, 2007.
The past practices clause, set forth in article XXVIII of the agreement provides in relevant part: “All benefits and obligations which are not described in this [ajgreement or in either the manual or plan and which are now enjoyed by or required of the employees are specifically included in this [ajgreement by reference just as though each such benefit or obligation was specifically set forth.”
At the close of the plaintiffs case, the parties stipulated to dismiss all counts against Pasquale Chila, the town’s deputy chief of police. The trial court dismissed all counts against Pacewicz except the claim for quo warranto and mandamus, and dismissed the breach of contract and promissory estoppel claims against Walters and Cava.
The plaintiffs cross appeal claimed that the trial court improperly failed to increase further the award for the loss of the use of the town vehicle and to award compensatory and punitive damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Because we conclude that the plaintiff is not entitled to relief in this case, the plaintiffs cross appeal must also fail. In addition, Pacewicz cross appealed with respect to the trial court’s quo warranto and mandamus order. On January 5, 2009, the plaintiff filed a motion requesting that we dismiss Pacewicz’ cross appeal on the ground that Pacewicz’ retirement from the town police department moots his appeal. Pacewicz filed an opposition to the motion. Because our resolution of this case makes it unnecessary to decide the cross appeal, we need not reach the issue presented by the motion to dismiss. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s quo warranto and mandamus relief.
The operative dates for the new agreement ran from July 1,1999, through June 30, 2004.
The sole exception occurred when an officer with the highest examination score was not promoted because of a pending disciplinary matter.
With respect to testimony regarding promotions from lieutenant to captain, every promotion, except the two simultaneous promotions described in this opinion, occurred prior to the 1999 amendments.
Robbins testified that he did not consult the human resources department or the pay plan and policy manual to determine whether he was required to promote the candidate with the highest assessment score. In support of its position, the town cites the postassessment letters to DeAngelo and Ridberg, which state that “[y]our result places you on the list of candidates eligible for appointment to [police captain]. Under the [r]ules and [Regulations of the . . . [p]ay [p]lan, a [department [h]ead may hire any candidate certified as eligible by the [h]uman [Resources [djepartment. Your name has been forwarded to the hiring authority for consideration for appointment to this position.” (Emphasis added.)
The question of who is eligible for promotion is not in dispute. The parties concur that paragraph D of the agreement requires that only members of the bargaining unit certified to the promotional list are eligible.
Though perhaps obvious, we ultimately base our assertion on the documents provided by both parties.
In such a case, if town rules and regulations were inconsistent with the agreement, the agreement would prevail pursuant to § 3.2 of the pay plan, which provides that “[a]ny inconsistencies between these rules and procedures and collective bargaining agreements shall be read in favor of the collective bargaining agreements.”
In such a case, any inconsistency between the town rules and regulations and the agreement would be irrelevant because neither the candidates nor the positions are within the bargaining unit. Accordingly, the town rules govern, unchallenged by provisions of the agreement.
Both parties rely on provisions of the town charter, pay plan and policy manual, and the agreement to support their positions and those documents refer to one another. See, e.g., Greenwich Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual § 100 (“[t]he policy manual is intended to supplement and should be used in conjunction with the [t]own [cjharter, union agreements, [pjolicy [mjanual, [p]ay [p]lan rules”); article XXVIII of the agreement (“Mil benefits and obligations which are not described in this [agreement or in either the manual or plan ... are specifically included in this [agreement”). We, therefore, analyze each document.
The town’s discretion to select any candidate who has qualified to be placed on the applicable list makes the process for promotions to police captain identical to the hiring procedures for the other two positions in the police department that are outside the bargaining unit.
The dissent relies on a decision of the Supreme Court of Michigan to support its assertion that “[t]here is not . . . universal consensus” as to whether promotions to positions outside abargaining unit are nonmandatory subjects of bargaining. See Local 1383 of International Assn. of Firefighters, AFL-CIO v. Warren, 411 Mich. 642, 653 n.2, 311 N.W.2d 702 (1981). In that case, however, the court did not have before it the issue of whether the promotional process for a position outside the bargaining unit was a mandatory subject of bargaining. The promotional process at issue in Warren was with regard to positions within the bargaining unit. Id., 649-50. The footnote to which the dissent cites is dicta, citing with approval a decision of the Court of Appeals of Michigan, Detroit Police Officers Assn. v. Detroit, 61 Mich. App. 487, 492-94, 233 N.W.2d 49 (1975). Moreover, as the court in Orlando v. Florida Public Employees Relations Commission, 435 So. 2d 275, 280 (Fla. App. 1983), noted, the Detroit decision, although it does conclude that the promotional process for positions outside the bargaining unit is a mandatory subject of bargaining, “contains little analysis and does not attempt to distinguish between promotional criteria within the unit and
Prior to this action, the union filed a grievance on behalf of the plaintiff with the board pursuant to article XXIII (A) (3) of the agreement.
For clarity, we recognize that in addition to mandatory and nonmandatory subjects of bargaining, there is a third category: illegal subjects of bargaining. No authority contends, however, that promotion to a position outside of a bargaining unit constitutes an illegal subject of bargaining. See, e.g., 1 A.B.A., supra, c. 16, p. 1393.
Neither the trial court nor the dissent analyze the language or contours of the past practices clause. Both simply take as a given that this particular past practices clause protects the practice at issue, namely, promotion to positions outside the bargaining unit. As we have detailed at length in part I of this opinion, the weight of labor law suggests that such a practice, which relates to a nonmandatory subject of bargaining, cannot be protected by the clause as set forth in the agreement. If the clause does not protect the practice at issue, then, as we argue, the past practices clause has no relevance, in which case, the plaintiffs claim cannot stand.
In addition to matters concerning wages, hours, or conditions of employment, unit members may also grieve matters affecting “health and safety.” Accordingly, we conclude that if the agreement intended to expand grievance
By pivoting away from the past practices clause, the dissent relieves itself of the task of demonstrating how that clause protects the practice at issue.
As the agreement makes clear, the purpose of the past practices clause is to incorporate into the agreement any applicable practice “just as though each such benefit or obligation was specifically set forth.” Therefore, it is a wholly different matter to treat a practice not covered by the clause as a course of dealing to interpret another provision within the agreement.
The dissent asserts that after resort to past practice the “agreement unambiguously requires the town to continue its past practices for promotions to captain.” Indeed, it is difficult to discern whether the dissent construes the agreement to be ambiguous or unambiguous. Although it asserts that the agreement is unambiguous, the dissent, in addition to its reliance on tools of construction for ambiguous language, concludes by arguing that the agreement could also be viewed as ambiguous, and then goes on to make selective arguments regarding the parties’ intent.
The significance of this point was persuasively stated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit: “To place past practice on a par with the parties’ written agreement would create the anomaly that, while the parties expend great energy and time in negotiating the details of the [agreement, they unknowingly and unintentionally commit them
The dissent places great emphasis on the portion of § 4.1.19 of the pay plan that provides that candidates will be “ranked on the list in the order of the score received”; see footnote 7 of this opinion; to support its contention that the town must promote the highest ranked candidate. The dissent, however, is unable to explain why the testimony at trial established that for the positions of deputy chief and chief of police, the town was free to promote any candidate certified to the eligibility list, despite the fact that that list also calls for candidates to be “ranked on the list in the order of the score received . . . .” Greenwich Classification and Pay Plan § 4.1.19.
Moreover, similar language in § 7-474 (g), which addresses the interplay of towns and collective bargaining agreements, never has been interpreted to require municipalities to promote the highest ranked candidates. Section 7-474 (g) provides in relevant part that “[n]othing herein shall diminish the authority and power [of a town] ... to conduct and grade merit examinations and to rate candidates in the order of their relative excellence from
This concern is especially apt considering that the record is replete with evidence that the town has promoted outside of rank order for other municipal positions, despite the fact that those lists also required candidates to be listed in rank order.
We recognize that subsequent to the amended agreement, the town did in fact promote the two highest scoring lieutenants to police captain vacancies. That singular instance cannot, on its own, support a proposition that the town has established a past practice of hiring the highest scoring bargaining unit member to a position outside the bargaining unit. “[A] past practice must be clearly enunciated and consistent, endure over a reasonable length of time, and be an accepted practice by both parties.” (Emphasis added.) Public Service Electric & Gas Co. v. Local 94 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 140 F. Sup. 2d 384, 398 (D.N.J. 2001), citing Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 243 F.3d 87, 92 (1st Cir. 2001); see also F. Elkouri & E. Elkouri, supra, c. 12, p. 625 (single incident has been held insufficient to establish past practice, citing arbitration cases therein).
Prior to 1999, that evidence would have needed to show that the town engaged in a practice of promoting the highest ranked police captains, who at the time were still members inside the bargaining unit, to the position of deputy chief, which was, and still is, outside the unit.
Past practice may no longer bind a party if the underlying conditions on which that practice was based have changed. F. Elkouri & E. Elkouri, supra, c. 12, p. 618. The dissent attempts to circumvent this principle by asserting that the status of the captain’s position, inside or outside of the unit, was not a condition on which the practice was based. This is simply not the case. All the evidence that supported rank order promotion was in connection with promotions to positions inside the bargaining unit, and no evidence was presented regarding a requirement for rank order promotion with respect to positions outside the bargaining unit. It cannot be denied then, that the past practice of rank order promotion was conditioned on the fact that promotions were made to positions inside the bargaining unit. Under the facts of the present case, that condition has obviously changed.
In short, the dissent’s assertion exemplifies the crux of the dispute between it and the majority. The dissent unyieldingly refuses to acknowledge that the removal of the police captain’s position from the bargaining unit had an impact on promotions to that position. In accordance with the constructs of labor law, we are bound to accord proper significance to that fact.
The trial court found that Walters’ “failure to appoint [the plaintiff] was motivated by bias against [the plaintiff] and favoritism toward Pacewicz.”
The plaintiff also raised a claim pursuant to Willowbrook v. Olech, supra, 528 U.S. 564, which recognizes an equal protection claim brought by a “ ‘class of one ....’” Subsequent to oral argument of this case, however, the United States Supreme Court decided Engquist v. Oregon Dept. of Agriculture, 553 U.S. 591, 128 S. Ct. 2146, 170 L. Ed. 2d 975 (2008), in which it held that class of one claims were inapplicable to public employment.
Dissenting Opinion
joins, dissenting. The principal issue in this appeal is whether the trial court properly concluded that the 1999-2004 collective bargaining agreement (agreement) between the named defendant, the town of Greenwich (town),
The trial court and the parties have relied, for varying propositions, on the town’s generally applicable rules, policies and procedures for employment decisions, which are set forth in the town’s classification and pay plan (pay plan) and personnel policy and procedures manual (policy manual). The parties agree, however, that the effect of the 1999 amendment to the collective bargaining agreement is central to this appeal. Indeed, both the pay plan and policy manual expressly mandate that the terms of a bargaining agreement will supersede contrary terms in those town documents. Greenwich Classification and Pay Plan § 3.2 (“[a]ny inconsistencies
“It is axiomatic that a collective bargaining agreement is a contract.” D’Agostino v. Housing Authority, 95 Conn. App. 834, 838, 898 A.2d 228, cert. denied, 280 Conn. 905, 907 A.2d 88 (2006); accord W.R. Grace & Co. v. Local Union 759, International Union of United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum & Plastic Workers of America, 461 U.S. 757, 766, 103 S. Ct. 2177, 76 L. Ed. 2d 298 (1983); Poole v. Waterbury, 266 Conn. 68, 87, 831 A.2d 211 (2003). “A contract must be construed to effectuate the intent of the parties, which is determined from the language used interpreted in the light of the situation of the parties and the circumstances connected with the transaction.” (Emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted.) Allstate Life Ins. Co. v. BFA Ltd. Partnership, 287 Conn. 307, 313, 948 A.2d 318 (2008). “In ascertaining intent, we consider not only the language used in the contract but also the circumstances surrounding the making of the contract, the motives of the parties and the purposes which they sought to accomplish.” (Emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted.) Barnard v. Barnard, 214 Conn. 99, 109-10, 570 A.2d 690 (1990). Thus, a contract’s meaning is contextual. Cf. Levine v. Advest, Inc., 244 Conn. 732, 753, 714 A.2d 649 (1998) (“[t]he individual clauses of a contract . . . cannot be construed by taking them out
To put the provisions of the agreement at issue in their proper context, it is useful at the outset to state what is not in dispute. Prior to 1999, the positions of captain, lieutenant and sergeant were in the bargaining unit controlled by the agreement between the town and the union. At that time, the bargaining agreement did not address promotions expressly but did include a provision entitled “Past Practices Clause,” which remained in the agreement after 1999. The past practices clause, set forth in article XXVIII of the agreement, provides in relevant part: “All benefits and obligations which are not described in this [agreement or in either the [town police] manual or [pay] plan and which are now enjoyed by or required of the employees are specifically included in this [agreement by reference just as though each such benefit or obligation was specifically set forth.” Thus, if promotion on the basis of one’s rank on the promotional list was a benefit enjoyed by members of the bargaining unit, that past practice would be protected under the agreement, even though the agreement does not expressly address promotional practices.
The trial court concluded that promotional practices within the bargaining unit were a benefit that fell within the past practices clause; the town does not dispute this interpretation of the agreement.
In 1999, the town and the union agreed to remove the position of police captain from the bargaining unit. This change undoubtedly altered the legal rights of persons who already had attained the position of captain. Once removed from the bargaining unit, the agreement no longer controlled the wages, hours and conditions of employment of captains except to the extent that the parties voluntarily had agreed and provided otherwise. See Assn. of Civilian Technicians v. Federal Labor Relations Authority, 353 F.3d 46, 50 (D.C. Cir.
As a result of the parties’ agreement to remove the position of captain from the bargaining unit, the parties amended article XXV of the 1999-2004 agreement, entitled “Conditions of Employment,” by adding paragraph D, which provides: “Promotion to the classification of [p]olice [c]aptain shall be made from bargaining unit employees who are candidates certified to the promotional list.”
It is well settled that, even in the absence of an express past practice clause, past practices properly may be relied on to illuminate the meaning of a term or provision of a bargaining agreement. See F. Elkouri & E. Elkouri, How Arbitration Works (A. Ruben ed., 6th Ed. 2003) c. 12.1, p. 605 (“[p]roof of custom and past practice may be introduced ... to indicate the proper interpretation of contract language”); see, e.g., Black v. Surface Transportation Board, 476 F.3d 409, 414 (6th Cir. 2007); cf. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local No. 744,280 F.3d 1133, 1139 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 885, 123 S. Ct. 119,154 L. Ed. 2d 144 (2002). “Indeed, the parties’ course of performance may be the best evidence of their intent in using a particular term.” Martinsville Nylon Employees Council Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board, 969 F.2d 1263, 1269 (D.C. Cir. 1992); see also id. (criticizing cramped interpretation of bargaining agreement by labor board and administrative law judge that failed to consider meaning of terms in light of past practice, especially in light of fact that past practice predated agreement). As the trial court properly recognized, although it would be improper to read the agreement to incorporate past practice if such a reading contradicted the express terms of paragraph D of article XXV of the agreement; F. Elkouri & E. Elkouri, supra, c. 12.9, pp. 627-28; neither the majority nor the town has demonstrated that any such conflict arises under the trial court’s construction.
It is an undisputed fact, both here and before the trial court, that the long-standing past practice in the police department was to compile and use promotional
Indeed, because promotional lists for sergeant and lieutenant positions, which are positions within the bargaining unit, undoubtedly continued after 1999 to be compiled and used in accordance with the past practice of rank order, the use of the term promotional list in paragraph D of article XXV of the agreement should be presumed to embody a similar meaning. In other words, had the parties intended to depart from past practice of rank order promotion, they presumably would have used a different term than “promotional list” or qualified that term with language indicating that rank order would not be the sole basis for appointment. For example, paragraph D could have provided “the appointing authority may select any candidate on the promotional list, regardless of rank,” or “the appointing authority may select from the top three ranked candidates on the promotional list.” Compare General Statutes § 5-215a (“The candidate list certified by the commissioner [of administrative services] shall contain the final earned rating of each candidate [for the classified state service] . The appointing authority shall fill the vacant position by selecting any candidate on the candidate list.”) and General Statutes § 7-414 (“Such persons [on the eligibility list for classified civil service] shall take rank as candidates upon such register or list in the order of their relative excellence as determined by test, without reference to priority of time of test. . . . The board
Turning next to the town’s rules and policies, the term “promotional list” is defined in the town’s pay plan and policy manual.
In light of the history of the past practices clause of the agreement and the language in paragraph D of article XXV of the agreement that is entirely consistent with past practices, I would conclude that the agreement unambiguously requires the town to continue its past practices for promotions to captain. Quite simply, the agreement controls until a bargaining unit member is promoted to the rank of captain; once appointed to that position outside the bargaining unit, the agreement no longer controls.
The majority reaches a contrary conclusion on the basis of two fundamentally flawed propositions relating to paragraph D of article XXV of the agreement and the past practices clause. First, it determines that a noncontextual and selective reading of paragraph D must apply. The majority reads this provision as if there was no history between the parties that would have given particular meaning to the terms they used. It presumes that the parties were writing on a blank slate
It defies logic that the parties would have incorporated a term that had a particular meaning under well established past practice, which previously was an
Second, the majority concludes that a distinction in labor law between mandatory and nonmandatory subjects of bargaining is dispostive, when that distinction has no bearing on the question before this court. The majority cites cases holding that the subject of promotions within the bargaining unit are mandatory subjects of bargaining, whereas the subject of promotions from a position within the bargaining unit to one outside the bargaining unit is a nonmandatory, or permissive, subject of bargaining. Accordingly, because promotions to police captain would have become a nonmandatory subject of bargaining once that position was removed from the bargaining unit, the majority posits that the town could not be compelled to adhere to its past practices for promotions to police captain. Although I would agree that the weight of authority, albeit quite limited, holds that promotions to a position outside the bargaining unit is a nonmandatory subject of bargaining,
It is well established that parties may agree to include a nonmandatory subject in a bargaining agreement, and, if they do so, a breach of contract action will lie for a violation of such a term. See Danbury v. International Assn. of Firefighters, Local 801, 221 Conn. 244, 253, 603 A.2d 393 (1992) (“The duty to negotiate is limited to mandatory subjects of bargaining. As to other matters, however, each party is free to bargain or not to bargain. ... To the extent that such permissive bargaining results in an accord between the parties, their agreement may be incorporated into a binding contract . . . .” [Internal quotation marks omitted.]); First National Maintenance Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board, 452 U.S. 666, 675 n.13, 101 S. Ct. 2573, 69 L. Ed. 2d 318 (1981) (parties are free to negotiate in good faith nonmandatory subject of bargaining but may not insist on it to point of impasse); Allied Chemical &
Paragraph D of article XXV of the agreement is clear evidence that the town did bargain on the subject of promotions to police captain and agreed to included terms consistent with past practice. Thus, the distinction that the majority and the town draw between mandatory and nonmandatory subjects of bargaining as it bears on whether the town could be compelled to bargain on this matter or could unilaterally alter a past practice that was not protected expressly in the agreement is irrelevant. Moreover, neither the majority nor the town has pointed to any case law that requires us to eschew basic principles of contract interpretation, under which we determine the parties’ intent in light of their situation and the circumstances of the transaction, when a nonmandatory subject of bargaining has been included in an agreement.
Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
Although the plaintiff, F. Gary Honulik, also named certain town employees as defendants; see footnote 2 of the majority opinion; all of the defendants assert the same claims with respect to this appeal, and I refer to them collectively as the town for purposes of convenience.
In its brief to this court, the town relies on labor board decisions that have held that promotions within the bargaining unit constitute a mandatory subject of bargaining, whereas promotions from a position within the bargaining unit to one outside the bargaining unit constitute a nonmandatory subject of bargaining. It then contends that “[t]he [state labor relations board], construing ‘benefits’ in a past practices clause, has concluded that ‘benefits’ are mandatory subjects of bargaining. . . . Thus . . . the past practices clause must be read to apply only to ‘benefits’ that are mandatory subjects of bargaining. Because promotion to a supervisory position outside the bargaining unit is a nonmandatory subject of bargaining, it is not a ‘benefit’ preserved by the past practices clause.” (Citations omitted.) There
The lone exception to this practice was a situation in which a top ranked candidate for a promotion to captain apparently had agreed to be passed over as part of negotiations to resolve pending disciplinary issues.
There was no evidence admitted to explain the textual differences between the 1999 preliminary agreement and article XXV, paragraph D, of the 1999-2004 bargaining agreement, but the bargaining agreement controls the issue in the present case.
Because the parties expressly included promotions to captain as a “condition of employment” in the agreement, there is no need to determine whether, in the absence of any such express manifestation, the past practices clause alone would require the town to promote in the rank order of the promotional list.
Section 7-414 embodies what is commonly known as the “rule of three,” a practice adopted by many municipalities. See Kelly v. New Haven, 275 Conn. 580, 587 and nn.9 and 10, 881 A.2d 978 (2005) (citing New Haven city charter and civil service rules); Hartford v. Board of Mediation & Arbitration, 211 Conn. 7, 10-11, 557 A.2d 1236 (1989) (citing Hartford city charter and personnel rules and regulations); State ex rel. Barnard v. Ambrogio, 162 Conn. 491, 495 n.2, 294 A.2d 529 (1972) (citing Haddam town charter).
The term “promotional list” is not actually used in the section of either the policy manual or the pay plan that encompasses the subject of promotions. The definitions, of course, could not, in and of themselves, prescribe substantive rights. Cf. 1A J. Sutherland, Statutory Construction (6th Ed. Singer 2002) § 27.1; Rizzo Pool Co. v. Del Grosso, 240 Conn. 58, 70, 689 A.2d 1097 (1997); Toll Gate Farms, Inc. v. Milk Regulation Board, 148 Conn. 341, 342-43, 170 A.2d 883 (1961).
A classified position is one filled by way of a competitive examination process; Greenwich Classification and Pay Plan § 4.1.8; whereas an unclassified position is excluded from the merit testing policies because of the nature of the authority and responsibilities exercised. Id., § 4.1.14. Although the town recently changed the position of police chief to unclassified, during the period relevant to this appeal, all positions in the police department were classified.
The significance of rank order is underscored in other provisions in the policy manual, suggesting that rank order may in fact be intended to operate as a constraint on filling promotions. The policy manual sets forth a proce
The majority gives substantive effect to the part of paragraph D of article XXV of the agreement that requires candidates to be “certified” to the promotional list and the counterpart in § 4.1.19 of the pay plan and § 102 of the policy manual that requires a qualified employee to have “passed a promotional examination . . . The majority fails, however, to ascribe any substantive meaning to, or even acknowledge, the portion of the definition that requires candidates to be “ranked on the list in the order of the score received . . . .” Greenwich Classification and Pay Plan § 4.1.19; Greenwich Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual § 102. Under the majority’s view, despite the clear meaning that rank order had with respect to promotional lists in the police department, it would not be a substantive violation of the agreement for the town to compile a promotional list in alphabetical order of those candidates who passed the promotional examination.
Indeed, testimony suggested that, at some point, the town had amended paragraph F of article XXV of the agreement to alter past practice with respect to the timing for certain promotional examinations not pertinent to this appeal.
In its brief to this court, the town contends that, applying the maxim “inclusio unius est exclusio alterius,” we must read the express inclusion
In its memorandum of decision, the trial court repeatedly emphasized that “the [town] specifically and unequivocally declined to negotiate a specific provision regarding the manner of testing and selecting a person promoted to the rank of [p]olice [cjaptain; and that therefore, the [agreement] calls for the implementation of the procedure of promoting in rank order from the promotional list and not according to the ‘[r]ule of the [l]ist,’ so called.” I note that Cava, director of human resources for the town, offered the following testimony on the express representations made by the town during negotiations relating to the change in the status of captains:
“[The Plaintiffs Counsel]: You did discuss with the union during the time the captain’s position went out of the bargaining unit, the fact that it was on the table and discussed, that the impact of that would be that the bargaining unit could no longer negotiate for the wages or the benefits, or those type of things for the captains, correct?
“[Cava]: Correct. . . .
“[The Town’s Counsel]: You said that you chose not to address the issue of a promotional process with the union, correct?
“[Cava]: Correct.
“[The Town’s Counsel]: Did the union indicate to you that it wanted to discuss the promotional process for captains?
“[Cava]: Well, they initially raised a number of those issues. And I chose not to discuss it with them. That was my initial position. They were outside the bargaining unit and I wouldn’t have any discussion with them over it. Subsequently, I learned that their real interest was they were concerned that the town may go outside of the department and hire outside people into the position of captain, so we acquiesced and that was never our intent. And we acquiesced to the language that’s now in the [agreement] that the*464 promotions would continue to come from within the department.
“[The Town’s Counsel]: So you never specifically discussed the promotional process even though the union had indicated that it wished to do that?
“[Cava]: Never discussed it.”
There is not, however, universal consensus on this question. See Local 1383 of the International Assn. of Fire Fighters v. Warren, 411 Mich. 642, 653 n.2, 311 N.W.2d 702 (1981) (“[p]romotions are such an important topic of employment relations that even promotions out of a bargaining unit are mandatory subjects [of bargaining]”); Detroit Police Officers Assn. v. Detroit, 61 Mich. App. 487, 492-94, 233 N.W.2d 49 (1975) (explaining and applying principle subsequently cited by Michigan Supreme Court in Local 1383 of the International Assn. of Fire Fighters), see also Manistee v. Manistee Fire Fighters Assn., Local 645, IAFF, 174 Mich. App. 118, 121-22, 435 N. W.2d 778 (1989) (“What constitutes a mandatory subject is determined on a case-by-case basis. [Detroit Police Officers Assn. v. Detroit, supra, 490-91], The test generally applied is whether the matter has a significant impact upon wages, hours, or other conditions of employment, or settles an aspect of the employer-employee relationship.” [Internal quotation marks
Although a past practice may no longer be binding if the underlying conditions on which the practice was based have changed; F. Elkouri & E. Elkouri, supra, c. 12.6, p. 618; that rule would not apply in this case for two
To the extent that one still could view the agreement as ambiguous after considering the undisputed past practice, the evidence before the trial court did not reflect that the parties’ conduct subsequent to the 1999 amendment manifested a clear intent to alter the existing practice. Significantly, within months after agreeing to remove the position of captain from the bargaining unit, promotions were made to fill two police captain openings. Peter Robbins, the police chief who filled those promotions, testified that he believed that he was required to promote in rank order of the promotional list, as the police department always had done in the past, and that no one had told him anything to the contrary. As a result, Robbins promoted the top two ranked persons on the promotional list. It seems extraordinary that the appropriate town officials never communicated to Robbins, the appointing authority, that there had been a change in the promotional process such that he now had complete discretion to hire anyone on the promotional list. See Jaasma v. Shell Oil Co., 412 F.3d 501, 508 (3d Cir. 2005) (subsequent conduct relevant to construe ambiguity in agreement); Sure-Trip, Inc. v. Westinghouse Engineering & Instrumentation Services Division, 47 F.3d 526, 534 (2d Cir. 1995) (same); Federal Ins. Co. v. Scarsella Bros., Inc., 931 F.2d 599, 603 (9th Cir. 1991) (same). Moreover, the announcement for those positions contained nothing that would have indicated to eligible officers that the practice regarding the promotional procedure had changed. The only manifestation to the contrary was in a letter from the town’s deputy director of human resources, which apparently was sent to only those two top ranked candidates who thereafter were
In light of the urgency to resolve this expedited public interest appeal as expeditiously as possible, I do not address the remaining arguments of the parties. See General Statutes § 52-265a (direct appeal on questions involving public interest authorized in case “in which delay may work a substantial injustice”).
