Opinion ID: 1902113
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the appropriateness of direct review of certification orders

Text: The petitioners argue that the Superior Court in the instant case lacked jurisdiction to review and to overturn the labor board's order allowing the secretary to the business manager to participate in collective bargaining. They contend that decisions emanating from the board as part of the process of resolving a representation controversy may not be appealed directly to the Superior Court pursuant to the APA's provisions for judicial review. We disagree and conclude that orders and other rulings related to employee-representation matters (certification orders) are capable of being perfected for direct and immediate review in the Superior Court under the terms of the APA. There is no question that prior to the passage of the APA, certification orders could not be reviewed directly by the Superior Court under the appeal provisions contained in the Rhode Island State Labor Relations Act (Labor Relations Act). Only decisions finding or dismissing an unfair labor practice were considered to be final and subject to judicial review under the terms of the legislation. See Local 494 Mutuel Race Track Employees v. Kelley, 89 R.I. 128, 151 A.2d 374 (1959); McGee v. Local No. 682, Brotherhood of Painters, 70 R.I. 200, 38 A.2d 303 (1944). Consequently, in order to challenge a certification order, an aggrieved party had first to refuse to bargain and then to include its opposition to the order as part of a subsequent unfair labor practice appeal. [1] The petitioners maintain that this framework for securing judicial review of a certification order was not supplanted by the enactment of the APA and is still in force. We are persuaded, however, that the adoption of the APA by the General Assembly altered significantly the route by which an appeal of a certification order may be properly taken. The General Assembly enacted the APA in 1962 to establish a single and exclusive method of obtaining judicial review of agency action, excluding only the decisions of specifically exempt agencies. Colonial Hilton Inns of New England, Inc. v. Rego, 109 R.I. 259, 284 A.2d 69 (1971); Yellow Cab Co. v. Public Utility Hearing Board, 101 R.I. 296, 222 A.2d 361 (1966). The purpose of the APA is to provide a uniform and consistent approach to the problems created by the increasing number and expanding jurisdiction of state administrative agencies. New England Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Fascio, 105 R.I. 711, 715, 254 A.2d 758, 761 (1969). In furtherance of this end the General Assembly repealed all parts of acts inconsistent with the procedural scheme set out in the APA. See G.L. 1956 (1988 Reenactment) § 42-35-18. It is well settled that the provisions of the Labor Relations Act have not been excluded from the scope of the APA's coverage. Rhode Island State Labor Relations Bd. v. Valley Falls Fire District, 505 A.2d 1170, 1172 (R.I. 1986). Accordingly we must determine presently the extent to which the APA's approach to judicial review conflicts with and therefore supersedes the procedures for review contained in the Labor Relations Act. [2] Under the APA, direct and immediate judicial review in the Superior Court is available to any party who has exhausted all administrative remedies available to him within the agency, and who is aggrieved by a final order in a contested case   . Any preliminary, procedural, or intermediate agency act or ruling is immediately reviewable in any case in which review of the final agency order would not provide an adequate remedy. Section 42-35-15(a). We examine these elements of an appealable order under the APA in relation to the case at bar. An agency ruling is only appealable under the APA if it was made as part of a contested case. The term contested case is defined pursuant to § 42-35-1(c) as a proceeding, including but not restricted to ratemaking, price fixing, and licensing, in which the legal rights, duties, or privileges of a specific party are required by law to be determined by an agency after an opportunity for hearing. There is little doubt that controversies concerning the representation of employees must be considered contested cases in light of the labor board's procedures for handling these matters. Whenever a question related to employee representation arises, the board is directed by the terms of the Labor Relations Act to provide for a hearing as part of its investigation of whether a bona fide representation controversy exists. If such a controversy is manifest the board is auunit. In support of its position, the school committee cited the prior acceptance by the board of the labor-nexus test developed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to resolve the question of whether a particular employee has enough access to sensitive labor relations information to preclude that employee from engaging in collective bargaining. The board did not pass upon the eligibility of the two secretaries for membership in the bargaining unit before the representation election held on June 3, 1988. At the conclusion of the voting the union was selected as the bargaining agent for the clerks, aides, bus drivers, and secretaries comprising the § 28-7-22 and § 42-35-9. We conclude accordingly that any controversy in which the legal interests or duties of a party are determined following proceedings held pursuant to the Labor Relations Act is in the nature of a contested case for the purposes of the APA. The instant case is clearly such a dispute. As such, it is the sort of controversy for which direct judicial review of the board's ruling may be available under the APA. The school committee was therefore not constrained to challenge the certification order concerning the business manager's secretary as part of a subsequent unfair labor practice appeal as was the case under the pre-APA practice. Having determined that the certification order in the case at bar emanated from a contested case and was therefore susceptible of direct judicial review, we must next consider whether the order was ripe for immediate appeal. One of the prerequisites for ripeness under the APA is that all administrative remedies within the agency must normally have been exhausted. See § 42-35-15(a). The need for exhaustion to attain ripeness allows an agency to correct its own errors, perhaps thereby avoiding the necessity of any judicial involvement. See Schwartz, Administrative Law, § 8.33 (3d ed. 1991). The petitioners argue in line with the pre-APA practice that a party aggrieved by a certification order may only secure judicial review by first refusing to bargain and then contesting the propriety of the order as part of a subsequent unfair labor practice appeal. The petitioners contend that only then have the party's administrative remedies been exhausted. We disagree. It is evident that once a certification order has been entered, the party affected adversely can obtain no additional level of review within the ambit of the board. There is no further opportunity for the party to vindicate its rights in the administrative process itself. See id. An unfair labor practice proceeding cannot provide an administrative remedy for the simple reason that relief from the board's certification ruling is not available in such a hearing. Indeed, as a result of an unfair labor practice proceeding the aggrieved party may be subjected to further untoward consequences arising out of the initial order. Accordingly we are convinced that in the instant case the school committee exhausted its administrative remedies consistent with the APA's appeal provisions. The other component of the APA's ripeness test is that any adverse effects flowing from the agency's determination must have been felt concretely by the party seeking judicial review. In order to meet this requirement, the act or ruling for which review is sought must either be a final order or be a preliminary, a procedural, or an intermediate agency action wherein relief from the final order would not provide an adequate remedy for injuries caused by the interlocutory action. See § 42-35-15(a). It is apparent that an order of the board certifying the results of a representation election is a final order and may be appealed to the Superior Court at once because it settles any responsibilities that labor and management might have to bargain collectively. The consequences of such a disposition are substantial and tangible. However, it is less certain whether other rulings handed down in the course of representation-related litigation before the board, including the order at issue presently, are also appealable without delay. We conclude that to be appealable immediately an order or ruling of the labor board related to the process of resolving a representation controversy must not be capable of being mooted by the outcome of a subsequent representation election. See Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association v. State, 541 A.2d 69, 72-73 (R.I. 1988). In the course of a representation controversy the board is required typically to make a number of determinations, some of which may warrant a separate hearing and agency order. These determinations include resolution of the following matters: whether the board has jurisdiction, whether the required minimum number of employees has signed an election petition, whether there is a contract bar or other technical bar to an election, the composition of the bargaining unit, the eligibility of particular employees to vote in the election, the scheduling of an election or elections, whether an election-related unfair labor practice requires an election to be delayed, and the certification of election results. If a party could obtain review of some or all these determinations sequentially, it would then be able to disrupt the board's orderly disposition of the controversy. Such interference with the workings of the board is preventable by forestalling any appeals of the board's actions that may prove to be unnecessary. Depending on the results of a representation election, all prior objections of an aggrieved party to the process of resolving a representation controversy may become moot. [3] Consequently consideration of these objections before the election is held or before it is determined that an election is not to be held is premature and potentially a waste of agency and judicial resources. [4] It is at such time that any injuries caused by the board's earlier determinations are felt in full and assessment of whether the board's final order provides an adequate remedy may be undertaken. See § 42-35-15(a). A party preserves its right to appeal any pertinent decision of the board still adverse at that point by having objected on the record of the earlier proceeding for which review is sought. Turning to the case at bar, we observe that the board's order regarding the secretary to the business manager must be considered ripe for appeal under the APA's appeal provisions. There was no opportunity to moot the order through a subsequent representation election because the ruling was in the nature of a post-election challenge. All available administrative remedies had been exhausted. It was therefore the sort of agency action that was reviewable immediately pursuant to § 42-35-15. Consequently the Superior Court did not lack jurisdiction to review and to overturn the decision of the labor board including the position of secretary to the business manager within the bargaining unit. After assessing the extent of the APA's application in the case at bar, we have concluded that the pre-APA method for securing review of a certification order described in Local 494, Mutuel Race Track Employees v. Kelley, 89 R.I. 128, 151 A.2d 374 (1959), is no longer applicable in light of the APA's enactment. Direct and immediate judicial review is available for certification orders that have been perfected for appeal under the terms of the APA. However, all elements of the Labor Relations Act's procedures not inconsistent with the appeal provisions of the APA remain in force. Rhode Island State Labor Relations Bd. v. Valley Falls Fire District, 505 A.2d 1170, 1172 (R.I. 1986). The Superior Court is therefore obligated to hear appeals filed pursuant to § 42-35-15 with the greatest possible expedition, and [they] shall take precedence over all other matters except matters of the same character. Section 28-7-32. See also Warren Education Association v. Lapan, 103 R.I. 163, 235 A.2d 866 (1967). During the appeal process, the order under scrutiny is not normally to be stayed even if doing so would work a significant hardship upon the aggrieved party. See § 28-7-30 and § 42-35-15(c). Such action is to give deference to the board's decision while affording the party affected adversely by the board's conclusions the opportunity for review. As a consequence, if an order is not in fact stayed while an appeal is pending, a failure to follow its directives may lead to the filing of an unfair labor practice charge against a party not in compliance with the ruling. The board, if it so desires, is authorized to seek judicial enforcement of both its certification order and any subsequent unfair labor practice finding that flows out of a failure to abide by its prior decree. [5] Sections 28-7-26 and 28-7-27. Requests for judicial enforcement are to be taken up by the Superior Court on an accelerated basis. Section 28-7-32. In the interests of judicial economy and of achieving a speedy and final resolution of employee-representation matters, we are persuaded that all complaints or petitions filed in the Superior Court that are related to a particular representation controversy are to be consolidated at the time that the first such complaint or petition is heard by the court. The entire record of the various proceedings below is to be presented to the Superior Court at that time. See § 28-7-26 and § 42-35-15. At such a consolidated hearing the court is to decide on the merits all of the questions presented in the pertinent complaints or petitions. See §§ 28-7-26, 28-7-27, and 42-35-15. These determinations shall have a preclusive effect on any similar or substantially related issues that may arise later. We are convinced that these procedures foster collective bargaining in a manner that is equitable, expeditious, and efficient and therefore in accordance with the objectives of the Labor Relations Act. See § 28-7-2.