509 A.2d 569 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1985
The plaintiff seeks an extraordinary remedy. It asks the court to invoke its equitable powers (a) to enjoin and remove the entire state board of mediation and arbitration as the arbitrator under a collective bargaining agreement with the defendant union, and (b) to substitute a new panel in its place. The parties presented this case on the basis of the plaintiff's amended complaint. The court will decide it as it has been presented.
The plaintiff's case relies upon a series of events from which it asks the court to draw a number of inferences which it argues will lead to the ultimate conclusion that the board, the union and a union official, Dominick Lucenti, illegally entered into a secret ex parte conspiracy, and that they unlawfully attempted to advance the interests of the union over those of the housing authority through partiality, preference, bias, unfair dealing and collusion. The authority sets forth a number of claims, among which are the violation of its rights *367 under the Connecticut constitution, the improper use of ex parte communications, an attempt to overturn and circumvent a "plumbing" arbitration decision, the improper influencing of the arbitration process, the board's unlawful adoption of an improper "quota" scheduling system, the board's failure to abide by its regulations, and the board's failure to adopt necessary regulations.
The court finds that the board responded to a budget shortfall by instituting a form of quota system with the units it services. Since it was accumulating a large backlog of filed grievances and was unable to hear many of them, the board wanted to hear the cases it felt were most significant, on a basis fairly proportional to the number of cases the various unions had with it. It felt this was a fair way to give all groups which utilized its services an opportunity to be heard. The board developed the practice of having its staff — in particular, the board secretary and her assistant — call the various unions (which were far fewer in number than their employer counterparts, and which were usually the source of the filed grievances) to determine which grievances were the more important ones that they wanted heard. In this way it tried to maximize its ability to arbitrate effectively, on a limited budget, the more important grievances. It also gave preference to certain priority grievances over and above the grievances subject to quotas.
Among the grievances filed by the union against the authority were many concerning whether maintenance personnel were entitled to a higher rate of pay for the performance of what they allege are plumbing duties. This issue was dealt with adversely to the union by an arbitration panel chaired by Howard Sacks. A motion by the union to vacate that decision was dismissed by the Superior Court. Thereafter, the union continued to assert plumbing grievances. *368
On August 3, 1978, the housing authority and the union entered into a collective bargaining agreement which was scheduled to expire September 30, 1980. It continues in effect under its terms because the parties failed to agree upon a new contract. Under §
Subsequently, the board staff scheduled plumbing grievances at the request of Lucenti of the union, over the objections of Edmund Winterbottom, general counsel of the housing authority for April 3, 1984. Winterbottom claimed that recent grievances were being heard before older grievances and demanded that they be heard chronologically. He feared that the board was allowing Lucenti to control its docket. Winterbottom also informed the board scheduler that an important witness would be hospitalized until May and asked for a postponement. He became upset when he heard that the board had called Lucenti about the scheduling. Subsequently, Winterbottom became angry over what he considered unfair treatment, and relations between the plaintiff and the board staff deteriorated, became hostile and led to this litigation.
There are no written regulations covering scheduling of arbitral grievances which set forth the use of quotas or any other scheduling techniques.
The court notes that with the exception of the chairman, the plaintiff did not attempt to prove that any other particular board arbitrators are biased. There is only an amorphous claim made that somehow the entire panel of available arbitrators appointed by the governor has in some way been compromised by the union and is therefore biased and prejudiced against the plaintiff. The specifics of this alleged process are not revealed.
The court finds that the board attempted to respond to what it saw as a fiscal crisis, and that it tried to take measures it felt would fairly treat those who came before it, by hearing what it considered priority cases and the more important grievances. In so doing, it kept in contact each month with the unions on its list in an attempt to prioritize cases from the grievant's standpoint. Final control of the docket, however, was kept with the board which retained the right to disagree with any party and to schedule as it saw fit. Usually, the unions were able to have their way regarding scheduling, but this was a function of the system the board put into place and not because of any secret agreement or conspiracy between the board and the defendant union. *370
The court finds that the plaintiff failed to sustain its burden of proving an irreparable injury. When an injunction is sought it is the time of trial which is controlling.Jones v. Foote,
Section
The plaintiff did not seek to enjoin the board's scheduling policies of which it complains. Nor did it seek to force the board to produce regulations it claims are missing under General Statutes §
This court does not believe it is authorized by law to grant the relief requested by replacing this statutory board with a new arbitration panel. In the absence of a statutory authority, that is exceptional relief which would amount to judicial lawmaking.
Holodnak v. Avco Corporation,
The board was the choice of the parties. They contracted for it through collective bargaining. The court cannot rewrite the terms of the parties' contract. That was their privilege.
The Supreme Court recently reminded us that we "`must and should presume that any officer of the state . . . will act lawfully, correctly, in good faith and in sincerity of purpose in the execution of his [or her] duties.'" Kinsella v. Jaeckle,
While there was evidence of an ex parte communication by the union's attorney, with John Norman, the factfinder, that does not in the court's opinion, based upon the evidence before it, lead to the extreme conclusion the plaintiff urges. Regulation §
Further, there is no credible evidence that any communication is causally connected to any specific bias or prejudice.
The plaintiff also claims that the board violated regulation §
Oddly, there was no request for relief on this issue. While the court has general equitable powers, the defendant board is entitled to notice in advance of the remedies it must defend against. Otherwise, the board cannot receive a fair hearing and properly defend itself. Therefore, in the absence of a claim for relief, the court will decline to act on this issue.
There is evidence that a collective bargaining agreement between the plaintiff and the union has expired, that they have been unable to reach agreement on a new contract, and that factfinding was carried out and rejected. The plaintiff alleges that proceedings as provided by state law are now in progress. Under General Statutes §
In any event, the court must fashion its decision in the context of the plaintiff's claim. That claim has not been proved and cannot support the radical relief requested. What the plaintiff has proved is considerable hostility between the parties and a great many fears and apprehensions by the plaintiff that it cannot receive fair treatment. But this court will not grant injunctive relief which rewrites a contract and eliminates the statutory powers of the board as to these parties merely because of fears and apprehensions. Injunctions are exceptional remedies which should be utilized with great caution at all times. Nicholson v. ConnecticutHalf-Way House, Inc.,