Court Opinion

ID: 9717435
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:03:28.308375+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:53.170880
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Senior Judge Kalish:
I respectfully dissent.
Section 301(16) of PERA defines a management level employee as “any individual who is involved directly in the determination of policy or who reasonably directs the implementation thereof. ...” Thus, to be managerial, an employee must be aligned with management.
The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board’s (PLRB) characterization of a particular position as “managerial” or “supervisory” is essentially a finding of fact. However, the principle which the PLRB follows in making that determination is a question of law. Touwship of Chartiers v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, 98 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 44, 510 A.2d 884 (1986). Because of the *37PLRB’s expertise, the court will extend deference to the PLRB’s legal principles in defining what is “managerial” and what is “supervisory,” provided they are reasonably consistent in formulation and application. Chartiers. Furthermore, the appellate court, while bound by the findings of fact which are supported by substantial evidence, can draw appropriate conclusions from the evidence, regardless of the action of the Board. Taylor v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 474 Pa. 351, 378 A.2d 829 (1977); Kemp v. Majestic Amusement Co., 427 Pa. 429, 234 A.2d 846 (1967); Brooks v. Conston, 356 Pa. 69, 51 A.2d 684 (1947).
Here, the hospital operates under a “cluster system” which separates the diagnostic and development of treatment plan functions of the psychiatrists from their implementation of treatment plans. The PLRB found that the psychiatrists acted as team leaders in diagnosing patients and developing the treatment to be implemented. As team leaders, they supervise members of their team which includes psychologists, nurses, social workers, and child care workers. The psychiatrists exercise no judgment in assigning work, hiring, discharging, disciplining, transferring, or granting vacation time off.
The PLRB found that the psychiatrists are involved in the budgetary process each year in that they assess the degree to which the goals and objectives of their units were realized for the past year, and set new ones for the future. The PLRB also found that the psychiatrists served on various committees of the medical staff which makes recommendations to the executive committee. The PLRB concluded that these psychiatrists are management level employees within the meaning of section 301(16) of the Public Employee Relation Act (PERA), Act of July 23, 1970, P.L. 563, as amended, 43 P.S. §1101.301(16).
*38Unlike police department cases where this court has set down seven indicia of managerial status (Chartiers), based on a long pattern of decisions by the Board, in hospital cases we have no long-established pattern or criteria to guide us. However, normally an employee may be excluded as managerial only if he represents management interests by taking or recommending actions that effectively control or implement employer policy. Sutter Community Hospitals of Sacramento Inc., 227 NLRB 181 (1976).
For example, in National Labor Relations Board v. Yeshiva University, 444 U.S. 672, 63 L.Ed. 2d 115 (1980), the power of the teaching faculty extended beyond strictly academic concerns. The faculty made recommendations to the dean in every case of faculty hiring, tenure, sabbaticals, termination, and promotion. Thus, the faculty’s professional interests, as applied to governance at the university could not be separated from those of the institution. It ended in the formulation of a university policy.
In the instant case, the psychiatrists exercise no judgment in assigning work, hiring, discharging, disciplining, transferring, or the granting of vacation time off. Any recommendation that they give is attributable solely to their expertise as psychiatrists and not to any management skills. The recommendations are offered to serve their own independent interest in creating an effective team of professionals. The hospital retains the ultimate decision-making authority. Psychiatrists are not hired to make operative the policies of the hospital. *39Finkin, The National Labor Relations Board in Higher Education, 5 U. Toledo L. Rev. 608, 616 (1974).
*38It is not extraordinary for employees to seek to exert influence over matters embedded in an employment relationship for which they share a concern, or that management would be responsive to their strongly held desires.
*39The operation of hospitals today is “big business” and the role of the psychiatrist is miniscule in the institution’s decision-making process.
Under the circumstances, to conclude that psychiatrists were managerial is irrational.