Opinion ID: 2571612
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Issue 1: Is KANAAE a professional employees' organization under the Negotiations Act?

Text: The issue of whether a group of people constitutes a professional employees' organization under the Negotiations Act is a question of law. See State Bd. of Nursing v. Ruebke, 259 Kan. 599, 624-25, 913 P.2d 142 (1996) (The question of whether certain activities are exempted from the Healing Arts Act is a question of law.). KANAAE correctly asserts that our review of conclusions of law is unlimited. Lindsey v. Miami County National Bank, 267 Kan. 685, 689-90, 984 P.2d 719 (1999). When as here, however, the district court has made findings of fact as a basis for its legal conclusions, our function merely is to determine whether the findings are supported by substantial competent evidence and whether those findings are sufficient to support the conclusions of law. Unrau v. Kidron Bethel Retirement Services, Inc., 271 Kan. 743, 747, 768, 27 P.3d 1 (2001). Substantial evidence is that which possesses both relevance and substance and which furnishes a substantial basis of fact from which the issues can reasonably be resolved. State ex rel. Stovall v. Meneley, 271 Kan. 355, 387, 22 P.3d 124 (2001). We begin our analysis by examining several provisions of the Negotiations Act. The Kansas Legislature passed the Act in 1970. L. 1970, ch. 284. It grants to a board of education's professional employees, e.g., certified teachers, the right to form, join, or assist professional employees' organizations (PEO). K.S.A. 72-5413(c); K.S.A. 72-5414. The Act also grants them the right to participate, through the PEO, in professional negotiations with the board to improve their terms and conditions of professional service. K.S.A. 72-5413(e); K.S.A. 72-5414. While the Act allows more than one PEO per district, a particular PEO becomes the exclusive negotiations representative of all professional employees in an appropriate negotiating unit  typically all certified teachers in a school district  when a majority of the unit's professional employees so designate. K.S.A. 72-5413(f); K.S.A. 72-5415(a). KANAAE concedes that ONEA has been recognized by the Olathe school district and by the State of Kansas as the exclusive bargaining representative in such professional negotiations since November 1970. Since that time, ONEA has negotiated with the board on virtually an annual basis regarding the bargaining unit's professional employees' terms and conditions of professional service. Our analysis of whether KANAAE is a PEO continues with consideration of the Act's definition of that term: [A]ny one or more organizations, agencies, committees, councils or groups of any kind [1] in which professional employees participate, and [2] which exist for the purpose, in whole or part, of engaging in professional negotiation with boards of education with respect to the terms and conditions of professional service. K.S.A. 72-5413(e). Since KANAAE admits that 80 to 90% of its members are professional employees, the first element of a PEO is satisfied. Consequently, our examination focuses on the remaining statutory element of a negotiating purpose. Toward that end, professional negotiation is defined as meeting, conferring, consulting and discussing in a good faith effort by both parties to reach agreement with respect to the terms and conditions of professional service. K.S.A. 72-5413(g). We have previously said that this phrase means more than the duly selected and exclusive negotiating agent merely making suggestions, which the Board is then free to ignore. National Education Association v. Board of Education, 212 Kan. 741, 748, 512 P.2d 426 (1973), superseded by statute on other grounds, U.S.D. 501 v. Secretary of Kansas Dept. of Human Resources, 235 Kan. 968, 970, 685 P.2d 874 (1984). The other phrase relevant to our analysis, terms and conditions of professional service, is statutorily defined with two specific categories of topics and one catchall: (1) such topics as salaries and wages, overtime pay, hours and amounts of work, insurance, and disciplinary procedures; (2) privileges to be granted the recognized PEO including such topics as voluntary payroll deductions, use of school facilities for meetings, and dissemination of information regarding the professional negotiation process; and (3) such other matters as the parties mutually agree upon as properly related to professional service. See K.S.A. 72-5413(l)(2)(A), (B), and (C). We do not weigh conflicting evidence, pass on the credibility of witnesses, or redetermine questions of fact. See Meneley, 271 Kan. at 387; Unrau, 271 Kan. at 747. We also accept as true all inferences to be drawn from the evidence which support or tend to support the findings of the district court. Graham v. State, 263 Kan. 742, 753-54, 952 P.2d 1266 (1998). Under these standards, the record reveals substantial competent evidence to support the district court's finding that KANAAE exists for a negotiating purpose, the remaining statutory element defining a PEO. Douglas Barnett, KANAAE's president and a founding member of its board of directors, announced a pre-incorporation goal of securing a place on the Professional Council which, because the council functions as the negotiating body for the school district, reflects KANAAE's members' interest in participating in professional negotiations. One of the membership brochures that it wished to distribute to Olathe teachers stated that KANAAE seeks to enhance the . . . compensation of educators. Barnett  who qualifies as an agent of KANAAE given his roles as incorporator, president, and director  admitted his early goal was for AAE to replace ONEA as the professional bargaining representative in the district. He also acknowledged that a future KANAAE board of directors could void the May 8, 2000, resolution and seek to negotiate. Finally, Barnett also advised district teachers on several occasions, through either circulating flyers or drafting an email, on how to drop their NEA membership and join KANAAE. A KANAAE flyer created by Snowbarger is titled 10 REASONS TO DUMP THE UNION AND JOIN KANAAE. Among other things, it states: KANAAE dues are $149 per year compared to union dues of $400-500  and GIVE YOURSELF A `RAISE' AND JOIN THE PROFESSIONAL ALTERNATIVE! The KANAAE membership brochure he wished to place in the internal mail system was of the same tenor, asking, Why pay three times as much? and claiming KANAAE . . . offers many of the same benefits that the teacher union [ONEA] provide[s] at a fraction of the cost of belonging to a union. Snowbarger  who qualifies as an agent of KANAAE given his role as Executive Director  also stated in the newspaper that KANAAE would not rule out becoming a participant in collective bargaining if the majority of teachers in a district wanted that. Moreover, KANAAE director Rogers testified that her organization was opposed to the union's salary structure based on tenure and advocated a merit-based system instead. This evidence reveals KANAAE's significant concerns about professional employees' compensation, which is not only a mandatory topic of negotiation under the Negotiations Act, but is also the central issue in most negotiations. See NEA-Wichita v. U.S.D. No. 259, 234 Kan. 512, Syl. ¶ 5, 674 P.2d 478 (1983). Just as important, it also reveals KANAAE's attempts to expand its membership by encouraging defections from ONEA. If enough defections occur to help establish 30% of the bargaining unit as KANAAE members, KANAAE can then attempt to decertify ONEA as the exclusive bargaining representative in the district by filing a petition with the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Human Resources. See K.S.A. 72-5417; K.S.A. 72-5418(b)(1); K.A.R. 49-25-5(a). Similarly, for KANAAE to prevail by majority vote in the resultant secret ballot election to decide whether ONEA should be replaced by KANAAE as the exclusive bargaining representative, ONEA's membership would need to be further decreased. K.S.A. 72-5419. The statements DUMP THE UNION AND JOIN KANAAE and GIVE YOURSELF A `RAISE' AND JOIN THE PROFESSIONAL ALTERNATIVE signify KANAAE's intent to replace ONEA as the bargaining representative, which in turn demonstrates it exists, at least in part, for the purpose of engaging in professional negotiations. See Graham, 263 Kan. at 753-54; Brown v. United Methodist Homes for the Aged, 249 Kan. 124, 133, 815 P.2d 72 (1991) (Intent is normally a question of fact and may be shown by acts, circumstances, and inferences reasonably deducible therefrom and need not be established by direct proof.). KANAAE has countered with evidence to support its claim that it is not a PEO. For example, it points to its May 8, 2000, resolution. The district court obviously found this resolution unconvincing, however, because KANAAE expressly reserved the right to discuss issues, i.e., to meet, confer, consult, and discuss with boards of education  the very definition of professional negotiation under the Act. See K.S.A. 72-5413(g). The district court also obviously found the resolution was contradicted by other competent evidence, including that stated above. As previously stated, we do not weigh conflicting evidence. See Meneley, 271 Kan. at 387. KANAAE appears to argue, however, that we are prohibited from giving substantial deference to these district court findings because of the business judgment rule. This argument is without merit. When correctly applied, the business judgment rule operates as a shield to protect directors and officers from liability for unprofitable or harmful corporate transactions when they were made in good faith, with due care, and within the directors' or officers' authority. Unrau v. Kidron Bethel Retirement Services, Inc., 271 Kan. at 759; 18B Am.Jur.2d, Corporations §§ 1703, 1704. As the school district points out, however, KANAAE attempts to use it as a sword to attack the propriety of a trial court's decision that rests on other competent evidence. Stated another way, KANAAE attempts to present the rule as somehow dispositive of the issue of its own intent. This argument is contrary to the concept of a hearing where all sides present evidence supporting their position and contradicting the others.' See, e.g., Brown v. United Methodist Homes for the Aged, 249 Kan. at 133 (Intent is normally a question of fact and may be shown by acts, circumstances and inferences reasonably deducible therefrom and need not be established by direct proof.). The district court's finding of fact that KANAAE exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of engaging in professional negotiations with boards of education, together with KANAAE's admission of professional employee membership, are sufficient to support the court's conclusion of law that KANAAE is a professional employees' organization as that term is defined by the Negotiations Act.