Court Opinion

ID: 9529177
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:48:30.026551+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:27:42.166782
License: Public Domain

*750Goodman, J.
(dissenting). Rather than affirm the judgment of the court I would dismiss the appeal as moot. See Hubrite Informal Frocks, Inc. v. Kramer, 297 Mass. 530, 535-536 (1937). The question of reinstatement for the 1973-1974 school year is no longer viable; and, as the majority opinion points out, Korbut does not ask for reimbursement for lost compensation beyond that which he was awarded for the 1972-1973 school year. He has not asked for remand1 to the arbitrators to make a determination of damages for the 1973-1974 school year. See School Comm. of Braintree v. Raymond, 369 Mass. 686, 690-691 (1976). Cf. Doherty v. School Comm. of Boston, 363 Mass. 885 (1973).
I cannot accept the implication in the discussion in the majority opinion (supra at 747-749, last two paragraphs) that the school committee cannot bargain with reference to procedures to be followed in the reappointment to nontenured positions. The contract provides a hearing procedure in case there is a failure to reappoint, by which an incumbent can obtain the reasons for the school committee’s action and an opportunity to present his side of the story. The agreement seems to do no more than require the school committee to comply with these provisions; the power to appoint still remains in the school committee. Such a requirement cannot be said to undermine the prerogatives of the school committee to set educational policy. Indeed, it may aid the school committee in making a more informed judgment. See School Comm. of Cambridge v, LaChance, 3 Mass. App. Ct. 710 (1975), holding valid procedures established in a collective bargaining agreement for the posting of vacancies and the processing of applications; Cohoes City Sch. Dist. v. Cohoes Teachers Assn. 50 App. Div. 2d 24 (N.Y. 1975), holding that a teacher who had been discharged without compliance by *751the school officials with evaluation procedures required by a collective bargaining agreement was entitled to reinstatement to a nontenured position (the court remanded the case to the arbitrator to provide that sanction); Legislative Conference of City Univ. v. Board of Higher Educ. of N.Y. 31 N.Y.2d 926 (1972), affirming 38 App. Div. 2d 478 (N.Y. 1972); Central Sch. Dist. v. Livingston Manor Teachers Assn. 44 App. Div. 2d 876 (N.Y. 1974); Note, Public Sector Grievance Procedures, Due Process, and the Duty of Fair Representation, 89 Harv. L. Rev. 752, 757, fn. 28 (1976), discussing the "extension of contractual just cause dismissal protection to probationary employees.” See also Teachers Local 66 v. School Comm. of Boston, 370 Mass. 455, 460-464 (1976). It is noteworthy that the New York cases cited above approved of the remedy of reinstatement to nontenured positions (distinguishing them from tenured positions) .2 And see Board of Educ. v. Associated Teachers of Huntington, Inc. 30 N.Y.2d 122, 128 (1972), in which the court held that provisions in a collective bargaining agreement for the arbitration of disputes regarding disciplinary action taken against tenured teachers were valid. The court said (Fuld, C.J.): “It [the grievance procedure including arbitration] assures teachers with tenure that no disciplinary action will be taken against them without just cause and that any dispute as to the existence of such cause may be submitted to arbitration. It is a provision commonly found in collective bargaining agreements in the private and public sectors and carries out Federal and State policy favoring arbitration as a means of resolving labor disputes [citing cases].” As to the power, generally, of a local governmental body to enter into an arbitration contract see County of Middlesex v. Gevyn Constr. Corp. 450 F. 2d 53, 54-55 (1st Cir. 1971); Annot., 20 A.L.R.3d 569 (1968).

 Cohoes City Sch. Dist. v. Cohoes Teachers Assn. 50 App. Div. 2d 24, 26 (N.Y. 1975). Kennedy v. Continental Transp. Lines, Inc. 230 F. Supp. 760, 762-763 (W.D. Pa. 1964). See Teamsters Local No. 25 v. Penn Transp. Corp. 359 F. Supp. 344, 350 (D. Mass. 1973), and cases cited.

 Cf. Fayetteville-Manlius Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Fayetteville-Manlius Teachers Assn. 51 App. Div. 2d 91, 92 (N.Y. 1976); Pavilion Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Pavilion Faculty Assn. 51 App. Div. 2d 119, 123-124 (N.Y. 1976), holding that reinstatement was an inappropriate remedy where a notice provision had been violated.