Opinion ID: 1806495
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: power to discharge without hearing

Text: Under the law, the Village Council has the power to appoint and discharge without a hearing. The following statute is the authority therefor: `Section 412.111 Departments, boards. `   The Council may, except as otherwise provided, remove any appointive officer or employee when in its judgment the public welfare will be promoted by the removal;   .' Judge Week's first order provided: `2. Said appointment, whether by the court or by the Village, shall constitute also, appointment pursuant to M.S.A. 572.10 so that the panel shall follow procedures of the Uniform Arbitration Act.' He undoubtedly had in mind that he had no power to appoint members for binding arbitration pursuant to Section 572.10, inasmuch as Johnson was a public employee and not subject to the substantive aspects of that chapter. In an appeal from an order denying plaintiff's motion to compel arbitration under Minnesota Statutes 572.09 of the Uniform Arbitration Act, our Supreme Court, in Layne-Minnesota Co. v. Regents of the University, 266 Minn. 284, 287-8, [123 N.W.2d 371, 374] said: `One of the fundamental objectives of the act [Uniform Arbitration Act] was to encourage and facilitate the arbitration of disputes by providing a speedy, informal, and relatively inexpensive procedure for resolving controversies arising out of commercial transactions, including the labor-management field.' (Emphasis supplied.) In the opinion of the [court] the latter act was not intended to be used in connection with public employees as the legislature adopted a Public Employees Labor Relations act by Laws 1965, Chapter 839, amending Laws 1951, Chapter 146 (much of which was new by Laws of 1965), being Sections 179.50 to Section 179.60, including the statutes on which the orders which are the subject of this case were issued. It is the opinion of the [court] that the legislature never intended that a unilateral resolution of a municipality or other unit of government would constitute a `written agreement' under the Uniform Arbitration Act (Sections 572.08 to 572.30). Further, even if it might constitute an offer (which was withdrawn by the resolution of discharge), the action of the employee did not constitute an acceptance before its withdrawal, as the first action of the latter was to seek an adjustment panel under the Public Employees Labor Relations Act (Sections 179.50 to 179.60), and not a hearing pursuant to the Veterans Preference Act. Not only is this Court of the opinion that the unilateral resolution did not constitute a `written argeement' to arbitrate which was binding upon the council, but the Court is of the opinion that by the enactment of the Public Employees Relations Act, the legislature has established as a matter of public policy the only way in which an employee of a village may assert a grievance against the latter. The legislature has not authorized a village under these circumstances to delegate its legislative authority, and hence the arbitration board exceeded its powers in making the award which has been filed herein.