Opinion ID: 2102261
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Liverpool Two-Step Format

Text: In 1977 this Court decided Matter of Acting Supt. of Schools of Liverpool Cent. School Dist. (United Liverpool Faculty Assn.) (42 NY2d 509, supra), which established criteria for determining whether and when a particular public sector grievance is subject to arbitration. The Liverpool protocol entails a two-step inquiry. Initially the court must determine whether arbitration claims with respect to the particular subject matter are authorized by the terms of the Taylor Law. The second step involves a determination of whether such authority was in fact exercised and whether the parties did agree by the terms of their particular arbitration clause to refer their differences in this specific area to arbitration ( Matter of Acting Supt. of Schools of Liverpool Cent. School Dist. [United Liverpool Faculty Assn.], supra, at 513). Succinctly, the test centers on two distinct inquiries as to the public parties' purported entry into the arbitral forum: may they do so and, if yes, did they do so.