EMPLOYER INTERFERENCE, RESTRAINT, COERCION; INTERFERENCE WITH RIGHT TO SELF OR UNION REPRESENTATION; WEINGARTEN RIGHTS – Investigatory Interviews

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* * * OVERRULED IN PART ON OTHER GROUNDS by Contra Costa Community College District (2019) PERB Decision No. 2652. * * *

An employee has a right to union representation at an investigatory interview the employee reasonably believes may result in disciplinary action. In Redwoods Community College Dist. v. Public Employment Relations Bd. (1984) 159 Cal.App.3d 617 [205 Cal.Rptr. 523], the court extended the Weingarten right of representation under EERA to an interview with "highly unusual circumstances" even if the element of discipline is absent; p. 62, proposed dec. Faced with an assertion of the Weingarten right, the employer may (as one option) dispense with or discontinue the interview. The Weingarten rule requiring representation is in applicable if no meeting or interview takes place; p. 63, proposed decsion.