All notes for Subtopic 1107.16000 – Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent
| Decision | Description | PERC Vol. | PERC Index | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2773M | City of Glendale 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Because IBEW should have raised its personal bias argument during the unit determination hearing, the Board ultimately dismissed the claim on waiver grounds. IBEW should have requested before or during the 2017 unit determination hearing that the City replace the City Manager or that he recuse himself from hearing the petition. The core principle is that “[e]vidence of bias or any lack of neutrality by PERB, its ALJs or any of its agents should be brought to the attention of the Board immediately.” (Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District (1997) PERB Decision No. 1186, p. 11.) In the instant case, IBEW had several opportunities after it filed its petition to move for the City to replace the City Manager or to ask the City Manager to recuse himself. Instead, IBEW argued for the first time at the PERB hearing that the City Manager’s bias disqualified him from considering the unit petition. IBEW claimed that it would have been futile to move for the City Manager’s recusal at the 2017 hearing because he denied IBEW’s similar request at the 2013 hearing on another employee organization’s severance petition. The 2013 events standing alone are not sufficient to establish futility, and IBEW therefore should have afforded the City an opportunity to address the issue and, in doing so, preserve its position that the City was unreasonably applying its Employee Relations Ordinance by letting the City Manager decide the appropriateness of the petitioned-for unit. (pp. 22-24.) more or view all topics or full text. | 46 | 11 | 06/28/21 |
| A469M | County of Riverside 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent The Board may deny special permission to appeal the denial of a request for disqualification when it would not effectuate the purposes of the applicable statute to allow the appeal. The Board granted special permission, in the unique circumstances of this case, based on the number of consolidated cases involved and the nature of the of the arguments for recusal. more or view all topics or full text. | 43 | 75 | 11/14/18 |
| A469M | County of Riverside 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Request for recusal of a Board member is premature when the case is pending before an ALJ or Board agent. more or view all topics or full text. | 43 | 75 | 11/14/18 |
| A469M | County of Riverside 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Neither the Board’s decision to seek injunctive relief against alleged unfair practices, nor statements by the General Counsel in pursuing injunctive relief, indicated that the Board itself had a fixed anticipatory prejudgment of the merits of the cases, where the statements by the General Counsel were grounded in the standards for obtaining injunctive relief. more or view all topics or full text. | 43 | 75 | 11/14/18 |
| 2461Ma | County of Tulare 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Reconsideration procedure is not interchangeable with a motion for recusal under PERB Regulation 32155. Because Union was on notice as of the date of board member’s appointment to PERB that he could have been assigned to a panel that considered this case, Union could have filed a motion for his recusal pursuant to PERB Regulation 32155, subdivision (f) upon learning of his appointment to the Board. The event triggering the time limits in PERB Regulation 32155, subdivision (f) is simply the possibility, not a certainty, that the board member in question may be on a particular panel. The term “counsel” in PERB Regulation 32155, subdivision (a)(3) does not include a consultant who is not an attorney. PERB Regulation 32155, subdivision (a)(3) describes three conditions requiring recusal, two of which apply to attorneys or “counsel” and one which applies to any person who has given advice to a party “upon any matter involved in the proceeding before the Board.” Thus, an “attorney or counsel for any party” must recuse himself or herself from a case in which he or she has represented a party in the “case or proceeding.” Likewise, a person who “has been retained or employed as attorney or counsel for any party within one year prior to the commencement of the case at the Board level” is subject to recusal. Because Board member was not an attorney or counsel, the one-year interdiction on participating in cases does not apply to him. No evidence was produced, nor argument made, that member gave advice to any party upon any matter involved in the proceeding before the Board, i.e. the County of Tulare. None of the circumstances contemplated by PERB Regulation 32155, subdivision (a)(3) are applicable to this case. Under PERB Regulation 32155, subdivision (a)(4), a board member, by virtue of his or her past employment, may not be considered automatically prejudiced in favor of a client of his or her former employer, and against any adversary of that client. Under PERB Regulation 32155, subdivision (e), in the absence of any facts supplied by a sworn declaration, mere past association with a law firm that represents the respondent does not establish that board member had knowledge of any facts pertaining to this case which would disqualify him to consider any case before the board. more or view all topics or full text. | 40 | 145 | 02/29/16 |
| A430M | Morongo Basin Transit Authority 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Permitting a party to cure a defect such as a lack of signature on a document that has no particular timeline for filing does not evince bias. The regulatory scheme in representation cases favors the petitioner in the more substantive matter of perfecting its showing of support. PERB Regulation 61240, subd. (b) provides that if the initial proof of support is insufficient, the Board may allow up to 10 days to perfect the proof of support. If the Board may allow extra time to submit additional support, it cannot be said that the more innocuous act of informing a petitioner that the petition lacks a required signature evidences bias. more or view all topics or full text. | 40 | 97 | 12/14/15 |
| A402E | Children of Promise Preparatory Academy 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent A “fixed anticipatory prejudgment” against a party must be shown to establish bias sufficient for Board agent disqualification. Prejudgment is established through statements or conduct by the Board agent indicating a clear predisposition against a party. Erroneous legal or factual rulings, in themselves, do not indicate bias. PERB Regulation 32155(c) requires that any request that a Board agent disqualify himself or herself be made under oath and specifically set forth all facts supporting it. PERB Regulation 32155(c) does not require the concurrence of the parties to the identity of a replacement Board agent. The Board agent’s statement in the order to show cause, that the academy had failed thus far to provide sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption that the proposed unit was appropriate, did not indicate bias, but rather a candid and appropriate appraisal of the academy’s position. more or view all topics or full text. | 38 | 76 | 11/06/13 |
| A377S | State of California, et al. 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Requests to disqualify a Board agent failed to comply with PERB Regulation 32155(c) where they were not made in writing under oath. Although timely, appeal from dismissal is dismissed for failure to comply with requirements of PERB Regulation 32155(c). PERB Regulation 32155(d) does not allow an appeal on the basis of a Board agent’s failure to disqualify himself or herself without the party first seeking disqualification of the Board agent as delineated in PERB Regulation 32155(c). more or view all topics or full text. | 33 | 46 | 02/25/09 |
| A322E | Chula Vista Elementary EA, California Teachers Association 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Under PERB Reg. 32155, absent some evidence of subjective bias or material disparity in case processing, there is no basis to disqualify a Board agent. more or view all topics or full text. | 27 | 54 | 04/11/03 |
| 1486E | Lodi Unified School District 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Absent showing of good cause, new allegations or evidence will not be considered on appeal from dismissal of charge; No good cause shown here for acceptance of new allegations or evidence on appeal. more or view all topics or full text. | 26 | 33096 | 06/28/02 |
| 1469E | Los Angeles Unified School District 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Opinions of ALJ regarding evidence arrived at after hearing testimony insufficient to establish bias of ALJ. Contacting settlement ALJ without notice to parties to ascertain availability to continue settlement discussions insufficient to establish bias of ALJ. Suggesting it was in one parties interest "primarily" to settle in the context of informing all parties to settle insufficient to establish bias of ALJ. more or view all topics or full text. | 26 | 33023 | 11/29/01 |
| A166E | Riverside Unified School District (Petrich) 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent As Board sustained ALJ's decision and found no evidence of misconduct by ALJ, Board denied request to substitute a new hearing officer; p. 1. more or view all topics or full text. | 11 | 18158 | 09/16/87 |
| A168S | California Correctional Peace Officers Association (Ford) 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Board denied request for special permission to appeal motion for disqualification of administrative law judge as granting such interlocutory review would not effectuate the purposes of the Act; p. 3. Where special permission to appeal ALJ's refusal to disqualify himself is denied, the moving party may reassert its arguments in its exceptions to the ALJ's proposed decision; p. 2. more or view all topics or full text. | 12 | 19062 | 04/21/88 |
| 0963E | Apple Valley Unified School District 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Board dismissed allegation that Board agent was bias because it was unsupported by any factual assertions; p. 2. more or view all topics or full text. | 17 | 24020 | 12/07/92 |
| 0951H | California Faculty Association (Shvyrkov) 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Board Agent's facilitation of communication and statements to Charging Party do not demonstrate bias; pp. 3-4. more or view all topics or full text. | 16 | 23141 | 09/04/92 |
| 0632E | Riverside Unified School District 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Record provides no evidence of ALJ bias or prejudice. more or view all topics or full text. | 11 | 18152 | 08/26/87 |
| 0627E | Los Angeles School District Peace Officer's Association (Brown) 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent No fact provided to support claim of bias of board agent. more or view all topics or full text. | 11 | 18117 | 06/23/87 |
| A337H | Regents of the University of California 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent The Board denied Sarka’s request to receive special permission to appeal the refusal of a Board agent to disqualify herself from investigation of his unfair practice charge pursuant to PERB Regulation 32155(d). more or view all topics or full text. | 28 | 161 | 06/08/04 |
| 1216S | State of California (Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent The Board will not consider an alleged conflict of interest by the Board agent when the party failed to follow the procedures prescribed by PERB Regulation 32155; p. 21; Evidence of bias should be brought to the Board's attention immediately. Self-serving unsubstantiated suggestion of bias do a disservice to PERB and discredit the alleging party. more or view all topics or full text. | 21 | 28144 | 08/27/97 |
| 0326E | Oakland Unified School District * * * OVERRULED IN PART by The Accelerated Schools (2023) PERB Decision No. 2855 * * * 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent * * * OVERRULED IN PART ON OTHER GROUNDS by The Accelerated Schools (2023) PERB Decision No. 2855 * * * ALJ analysis of witnesses' testimony not evidence of bias; p. 34. more or view all topics or full text. | 7 | 14195 | 07/11/83 |
| 0947E | Palomar Community College District 1107.16000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Disqualification or Bias of Board Agent Board agent noted his relationship with union's counsel on the record in accord with PERB Regulation 32155. Board rejected district's claim of conflict of interest raised only after a decision was issued contrary to the district's position; p. 7. more or view all topics or full text. | 16 | 23111 | 07/14/92 |