SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department

84 

CA 13-01106 

PRESENT: CENTRA, J.P., FAHEY, LINDLEY, SCONIERS, AND WHALEN, JJ. 

 

IN THE MATTER OF ARBITRATION BETWEEN MONROE 

COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFFS’ ASSOCIATION, INC., 

PETITIONER-APPELLANT, 

 

AND MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

MONROE COUNTY AND MONROE COUNTY SHERIFF, 

RESPONDENTS-RESPONDENTS. 

TREVETT CRISTO SALZER & ANDOLINA, P.C., ROCHESTER (DANIEL P. DEBOLT OF

COUNSEL), FOR PETITIONER-APPELLANT. 

MERIDETH H. SMITH, COUNTY ATTORNEY, ROCHESTER (MALLORIE C. RULISON OF

COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENTS-RESPONDENTS.

 

Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Monroe County (Ann

Marie Taddeo, J.), entered December 11, 2012 in a proceeding pursuant

to CPLR article 75. The order denied the petition and confirmed the

arbitration award. 

It is hereby ORDERED that the order so appealed from is

unanimously affirmed without costs.

Memorandum: Petitioner, the bargaining representative for

certain Deputy Sheriffs employed by respondents, commenced this

proceeding to vacate an arbitration award denying a grievance filed by

petitioner on behalf of five of its members. Those five Deputy

Sheriffs were scheduled to work on July 4, 2011 and they each

requested and were granted the day off without being required to use

vacation leave or compensatory time. The collective bargaining

agreement (CBA) then in effect provided that Independence Day was a

paid holiday and that “[a]ll employees shall be entitled to holiday

pay.” In addition, the five Deputy Sheriffs qualified, by virtue of

their employment and military service, for the benefit extended by

Military Law § 249, which provides in pertinent part that employees so

qualified “shall, in so far as practicable, be entitled to absent

[themselves] from [their] duties or service, with pay, on July fourth

of each year” without “any loss or diminution of vacation or holiday

privilege.” Respondents ultimately paid the five employees eight

hours of holiday pay without loss of vacation leave or compensatory

time. Petitioner thereafter filed a grievance alleging that

respondents violated the CBA when they failed to pay the Deputy

Sheriffs for their regular shifts on July 4, 2011, i.e., for an

additional 7.5 hours. The grievance was denied at each step
-2- 84 

CA 13-01106 

contemplated by the CBA, including arbitration. The arbitrator

concluded, inter alia, that neither the CBA nor Military Law § 249

required respondents to pay the five Deputy Sheriffs in the manner

sought by petitioner.

We conclude that Supreme Court properly denied the petition and

confirmed the arbitration award. Contrary to petitioner’s

contentions, the arbitrator did not exceed any limitation of his power

in denying the grievance (see Matter of New York City Tr. Auth. v

Transport Workers Union of Am., Local 100, 14 NY3d 119, 123-124;

Rochester City Sch. Dist. v Rochester Teachers Assn., 41 NY2d 578,

583), nor is his construction of the CBA totally irrational (see

Rochester City Sch. Dist., 41 NY2d at 583; cf. Matter of Albany County

Sheriffs Local 775 of N.Y. State Law Enforcement Officers Union, Dist.

Council 82, AFSCME, AFL-CIO [County of Albany], 27 AD3d 979, 980). In

addition, there is no basis for vacating the award as violative of

public policy (see generally Matter of New York City Tr. Auth. v

Transport Workers Union of Am. Local 100, AFL-CIO, 99 NY2d 1, 6-7). 

Contrary to petitioner’s contention, the award does not, on its face,

violate the public policy embodied in Military Law § 249, and the

court properly declined to vacate the award on that ground (see Matter

of Sprinzen [Nomberg], 46 NY2d 623, 631; see also Matter of Brady v

Kelley, 51 AD2d 797, 797-798). 

Entered: February 7, 2014 Frances E. Cafarell

Clerk of the Court