GENERAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES; AGENCY – Apparent Authority

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Apparent authority is “such as a principal, intentionally or by want of ordinary care, causes or allows a third person to believe the agent to possess.” (Civ. Code, § 2317.) “PERB and the courts have held that apparent authority to act on behalf of the employer may be found where the manifestations of the employer create a reasonable basis for employees to believe that the employer has authorized the alleged agent to perform the act in question.” (Santa Ana Unified School District (2013) PERB Decision No. 2332, pp. 9-10, quoting West Contra Costa County Healthcare District (2011) PERB Decision No. 2164-M, p. 7.) The inquiry is best framed as whether under the circumstances a reasonable employee would believe the alleged agent “was reflecting company policy and speaking and acting for management.” (Compton Unified School District (2003) PERB Decision No. 1518, p. 5, fn. 3, quoting Great Am. Products (1993) 312 NLRB 962, 963.) This is an objective inquiry. (City of San Diego (2015) PERB Decision No. 2464-M, p. 18; Chula Vista Elementary School District (2004) PERB Decision No. 1647, pp. 8-9.) Examining the facts in totality, the Board found that a District employee did not act with apparent authority in collecting signatures for a decertification petition. While certain facts indeed suggest that the employee received preferential treatment from the District—e.g., he was the only Irrigation Specialist to reside in fully subsidized housing on District property, to retain a company vehicle for work and personal use, and to absent himself from daily morning meetings with impunity—the Board considered them against the facts that management never referred to the employee as a “shop and yard foreman” during a meeting between Irrigation Specialists and management, or otherwise, and that the employee did not have any supervisory authority aside from occasionally overseeing the spray crew. (pp. 23-24.)