Third District Court of Appeal

State of Florida 

Opinion filed September 30, 2022.

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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No. 3D21-1881

Lower Tribunal No. 20-21431

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Metro Dade Firefighters, International Association of Fire 

Fighters, Local 1403,

Appellant,

vs.

Miami-Dade County,

Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami Dade County, Maria De 

Jesus Santovenia, Judge.

Mierzwa & Floyd, P.A., and Matthew J. Mierzwa, Jr. (Lake Worth), for 

appellant.

Geraldine Bonzon-Keenan, Miami Dade County Attorney, and Leona 

N. McFarlane, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

Before LOGUE, LINDSEY, and MILLER, JJ. 

LOGUE, J.
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Metro Dade Fire Fighters, International Association of Fire Fighters, 

Local 1403 (the “Union”) appeals the circuit court’s order vacating an 

arbitration award against Miami-Dade County (the “County”). The circuit 

court determined that the arbitrator exceeded his powers in awarding the 

restoration of sick leave to a firefighter for an eleven-year period preceding 

an award of long-term disability benefits. Because we find that the arbitrator 

did not exceed his powers, we are constrained to reverse the circuit court’s 

order vacating the arbitration award.

Factual and Procedural Background

The Union and the County are parties to a collective bargaining 

agreement that provides for arbitration to address grievances within the 

meaning of the agreement. Article 19.5 of the collective bargaining 

agreement incorporates the Miami-Dade County Service-Connected 

Disability Program (the “Disability Program”), as enumerated in sections 2-

56.21 through 2-56.27.1 of the Miami-Dade County Code. Section 2-56.26 

of the Disability Program provides that “[a]n employee who suffers a serviceconnected disability shall not use or be charged sick leave if he is granted 

disability leave or disability payments.”

The County employed Ramiro Calvo as a firefighter from October 2005 

until his retirement on December 3, 2017. During his career, Mr. Calvo 
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sustained several on-the-job injuries beginning in October 2006 that 

impacted his ability to work. Mr. Calvo was granted short term disability 

benefits for these various injuries. On October 17, 2017, Mr. Calvo filed a 

grievance asserting that he was entitled to have his entire annual, sick, and 

holiday time restored pursuant to Article 19.5 of the collective bargaining 

agreement and Section 2-56.26 of the Disability Program because he was 

forced to use his leave time due to his compensable on-the-job injuries. Mr. 

Calvo also applied for long term disability benefits, which were ultimately 

granted with an effective date of November 15, 2017.

On April 30, 2018, Mr. Calvo’s grievance was sustained with a notation 

that “. . . FF Calvo (ret.) has been reimbursed what Risk Management has 

determined is the correct amount which he is due.” This referred to a 

February 14, 2018 check issued by the County to Mr. Calvo representing a 

retroactive payment of Mr. Calvo’s sick leave for periods during which he 

was granted short term disability benefits. Believing this did not satisfactorily 

resolve Mr. Calvo’s grievance, the Union demanded the grievance proceed 

to arbitration.

On November 14, 2019, an arbitration hearing was held. The arbitrator 

issued his Decision and Award on February 12, 2020. The arbitrator 

summarized the dispute presented as follows: 
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[The Union on behalf of Mr. Calvo alleges that the 

County] violated the Art. 19.5 of the collective 

bargaining agreement (“CBA”) and County disability 

policies, including Sec. 2-56.26 “Sick Leave” of the 

Miami-Dade Code by not fully restoring [Mr. Calvo’s] 

use of leave time when the use of that time was due 

to on-the-job injuries. The County maintains that it did 

restore [Mr. Calvo’s] leave pay in accordance with its 

Policy and the CBA and thus no remedy is due [Mr. 

Calvo]. At issue is whether the County violated Article 

19.5 of the CBA and if so, what is the proper remedy?

The arbitrator concluded the County violated Article 19.5 of the CBA because 

it failed to enforce Section 2-56.26 relating to sick leave by failing to properly 

administer it when long term disability benefits under Section 2-56.27.1 had 

been granted by its Panel effective November 15, 2017. The arbitrator 

directed the County to calculate the leave hours it deduced from Mr. Calvo 

unrelated to his short-term disability restorations and pay him for same. The 

arbitrator also retained jurisdiction for a period of 60 days to address “any 

unresolved issue or issues concerning the remedy.”

The parties continued to disagree regarding the requirements of the 

arbitrator’s remedy and returned before the arbitrator. The County identified 

the issue for submission to the arbitrator as: “What, if any, remedy is due 

Calvo based on his approval for long term disability benefits, effective 

November 17, 2017.” The County contended no further sick leave was 

required to be restored because Mr. Calvo did not use, nor was he charged 
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for, any sick leave during the period from November 17, 2017, the effective 

date of his long-term disability benefits, through his last day of employment, 

December 3, 2017. The Union disagreed, however, and argued the 

appropriate time frame for consideration was between “October 2006 and 

December 2017,” contending that the decision to grant long term disability 

was unrelated to the requirement that the County not charge sick leave when 

somebody received those disability payments.

On July 7, 2020, the arbitrator issued a Post-Decision/Award Remedy 

Decision approving the Union’s position and ordering the County to “comply 

with the CBA and its Ordinance and restore the remaining portion of [Mr. 

Calvo’s] sick leave that occurred in his 11 year period of disability that led to 

his becoming eligible for long term disability benefits.” The County filed a 

Motion to Vacate Arbitration Award with the circuit court, arguing the 

arbitrator exceeded his authority when he issued the July 7th PostDecision/Award Remedy Decision. The Union opposed the motion, arguing 

the arbitrator resolved the exact issue submitted by the County and that the 

County waived any claim that the arbitrator exceeded his powers by 

specifically asking the arbitrator to determine the remedy, litigating the issue, 

and otherwise failing to argue the matter was beyond the grievance and 

arbitration procedures of the CBA.
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On August 20, 2021, the circuit court issued its Order granting the 

County’s Motion to Vacate Arbitration Award. The circuit court ruled the 

arbitrator had no authority to issue the Post-Decision/Award Remedy 

Decision, concluding that the arbitrator did not confine himself exclusively to 

the question presented by Mr. Calvo’s grievance and instead exceeded his 

authority by altering and supplementing the County’s Disability Program and 

the CBA. The circuit court noted that the County’s Disability Program 

expressly provided that “[t]he Disability Panel shall administer all matters 

arising under this program,” while “[p]ayments authorized by this program 

and related procedural matters shall be administered by the Risk 

Management Division,” and “. . . an award or the denial or termination of an 

award by the Disability Panel shall be final and binding upon both the 

employee and Miami-Dade County.” 

The circuit court concluded that the arbitrator, in direct opposition to 

these parameters, impermissibly ignored the Disability Panel’s determination 

and concluded that Mr. Calvo was entitled to sick leave restoration for an 

eleven-year period of disability, thereby essentially ignoring section 2-56.26 

and extending coverage to Mr. Calvo for eleven years before the County 

Disability Panel actually granted Mr. Calvo long-term disability payments. 

The circuit court thus ruled that “[n]either the CBA nor the County’s Service-
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Connected Disability Program ordinance gave the arbitrator the authority to 

dispute or substitute the Disability Panel’s award with his own determination 

that Calvo’s long term disability began 11 years earlier.”

Analysis

In reviewing an order vacating an arbitration award, our review “is very 

limited, with a high degree of conclusiveness attaching to an arbitration 

award.” Marr v. Webb, 930 So. 2d 734, 737 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006). “This limited 

review is necessary to avoid a judicialization of the arbitration process, and 

to prevent arbitration from becoming merely an added preliminary step to 

judicial resolution rather than a true alternative.” Id. (internal quotation marks 

omitted). We review findings of fact for competent substantial evidence and 

questions of law de novo. Id.

Section 682.13(1), Florida Statutes, sets forth the only grounds on 

which an award of an arbitrator must be vacated. In the absence of one of 

the five factors set forth in the statute, neither the circuit court nor this Court 

has the authority to overturn the arbitration award. Id. Indeed, “it is well 

settled that ‘the award of arbitrators in [ ] arbitration proceedings cannot be 

set aside for mere errors of judgment either as to the law or as to the facts; 

if the award is within the scope of the submission, and the arbitrators are not 

guilty of the acts of misconduct set forth in the statute, the award operates 
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as a final and conclusive judgment.’” Schnurmacher Holding, Inc. v. Noriega, 

542 So. 2d 1327, 1328 (Fla. 1989) (quoting Cassara v. Wofford, 55 So.2d 

102, 105 (Fla.1951)).

As relevant here, an arbitrator’s award must be vacated when the 

arbitrator exceeds his or her powers. See § 682.13(1)(d), Fla. Stat. “[A]n 

arbitrator exceeds his or her power . . . when he or she goes beyond the 

authority granted by the parties or the operative documents and decides an 

issue not pertinent to the resolution of the issue submitted to arbitration.” 

Schnurmacher Holding, Inc., 542 So. 2d at 1329. Whether an arbitrator 

exceeded his authority within the meaning of section 682.13 is an issue of 

law subject to de novo review. See Visiting Nurse Ass'n of Fla., Inc. v. Jupiter 

Med. Ctr., Inc., 154 So.3d 1115, 1124 (Fla. 2014).

Here, the CBA is the operative document and it provides that “[i]f a 

grievance, as defined in Article 4, has not been satisfactorily resolved 

through the grievance procedure, the Union may request arbitration . . . .” (R. 

23, Art. 5.1). A grievance, in turn, is defined as “any dispute involving the 

interpretation or application of the terms of [the CBA].” The CBA indicates 

that the arbitrator’s award “shall be final and binding on both parties.”

Mr. Calvo’s grievance identified the basis of his dispute as Article 19.5 

of the CBA, which states: “The County shall provide to the members of the 
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bargaining unit all benefits set forth in the Service Connected Disability 

Program and administer those benefits consistent with the provisions of the 

program as enumerated in Section 2-56.21 through 2-56.27.1 of the MiamiDade County Code.” Mr. Calvo also identified Section 2-56.26 of the MiamiDade County Code, which was incorporated into the CBA by Article 19.5, as 

part of his grievance. Section 2-56.26 provides: “Sick leave. An employee 

who suffers a service-connected disability shall not use or be charged sick 

leave if he is granted disability leave or disability payments.”

Mr. Calvo’s grievance detailed his on-the-job injuries beginning in 

October 2006 that resulted in ongoing treatments that required him to use 

the entirety of his annual, sick and holiday time, and requested to have his 

time restored pursuant to Article 19.5 and Section 2-56-26. In the initial 

arbitration proceedings, the Union took the position that the County violated 

Article 19.5 and Section 2-56-26 by not fully restoring Mr. Calvo’s use of 

leave time when the use of that time was due to on-the-job injuries. The 

County, in turn, maintained that it did restore Mr. Calvo’s leave pay in 

accordance with Article 19.5 and Section 2-56.26 and thus no remedy was 

due.

Based on the foregoing, the arbitrator identified the issue presented to 

him for determination as: “[W]hether the County violated Article 19.5 of the 
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CBA and if so, what is the proper remedy?” The arbitrator decided these 

issues, specifically concluding that the County violated Article 19.5 and failed 

to enforce and properly administer Section 2-56.26 after Mr. Calvo was 

granted long term disability benefits and that the proper remedy was for the 

County to calculate the applicable restoration hours and make the payment 

of sick leave it deducted from Mr. Calvo unrelated to his short-term disability 

restorations.

The parties then returned before the arbitrator for clarity regarding the 

remedy imposed by the arbitrator for the County’s violation of Article 19.5. 

The County itself, moreover, specifically identified the issue for resolution by 

the arbitrator as: “What, if any, remedy is due to Calvo based on his approval 

for long term disability benefits, effective November 17, 2017.” And, again, 

this was the issue the arbitrator decided, determining that the remedy due to 

Mr. Calvo was restoration of the remaining portion of his sick leave that 

occurred in his eleven-year period of disability that led to his becoming 

eligible for long term disability benefits.

The arbitrator, therefore, did not exceed his power. The CBA granted 

the arbitrator the authority to resolve grievances. Here, the grievance 

submitted by the Union concerned a dispute involving the interpretation and 

application of Section 2-56.26, which was incorporated into the CBA by its 
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own terms, namely Article 19.5. The arbitrator decided only the issue 

submitted to arbitration. He interpreted and applied Section 2-56.26, finding 

that the provision required the County to restore all of Mr. Calvo’s leave time 

for the period of time from his first on-the-job injury through his retirement 

after a finding of long-term disability because all of this time was taken as a 

result of Mr. Calvo’s various compensable injuries and the lingering effects 

of these injuries. Therefore, he “did what the parties had asked and did not 

decide an issue not pertinent to the resolution of the issue submitted to 

arbitration.” Visiting Nurse Ass'n of Florida, Inc., 154 So. 3d at 1137 (internal 

quotation marks omitted).

Whether the arbitrator’s decision was legally correct is irrelevant 

because “[a]n award of arbitration may not be reversed on the ground that 

the arbitrator made an error of law.” Schnurmacher Holding, Inc., 542 So. 2d 

at 1329. Thus, while the circuit court may have disagreed with the arbitrator’s 

interpretation and application of Section 2-56.26, it was not free to vacate 

the arbitration award because the arbitrator did not exceed his power. We 

are similarly constrained and must reverse the circuit court’s order.

Reversed and remanded.