Decision 2545E – Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, et al.
LA-CE-6025-E & LA-CE-6027-E
Decision Date: December 28, 2017
Decision Type: PERB Decision
Description: An administrative law judge (ALJ) found that a charter management organization (CMO) and two charter schools were a single employer, and that they committed unfair practices by denying union organizers access to the schools, filtering a union-related e-mail message to employees’ spam folders, and threatening an employee for supporting the union. The ALJ dismissed allegations that the CMO interfered with employee rights by sending written communications and removing a teacher from a professional development meeting. Both parties filed exceptions.
Disposition: The Board affirmed in part and reversed in part. The Board concluded that it could not assert jurisdiction over the CMO based on a single employer finding, because the CMO is not an entity subject to the Board’s jurisdiction under the Educational Employment Relations Act, and dismissed all allegations against the CMO. The Board declined to consider whether the schools could be liable for the CMO’s conduct under an agency theory, concluding that the Board’s unalleged violation test was not satisfied. For the allegations against the schools only, which were not the subject of exceptions, the Board denied the charging party’s request for additional extraordinary remedies.
Perc Vol: 42
Perc Index: 76
Decision Headnotes
201.01000 – In General
The Board cannot obtain jurisdiction over a private entity that does not fall within the definition of “employer” under the applicable statute by finding that entity to be part of a “single employer” relationship with an entity over which the Board does have jurisdiction.
201.04000 – Joint Employer, Single Employer, and Alter Ego Doctrines
The Board cannot obtain jurisdiction over a private entity that does not fall within the definition of “employer” under the applicable statute by finding that entity to be part of a “single employer” relationship with an entity over which the Board does have jurisdiction.
1107.04000 – Unalleged Violations
The unalleged violation test was not met with respect to new theories of liability first raised in charging party’s response to cross-exceptions.
1205.03000 – Notices; Posting, Reading, and Mailing
The reading of a notice by a respondent is an “extraordinary” or “special” remedy that will be imposed only where required by the particular circumstances of a case, which may include when the violations are egregious or repeated, or when there are low levels of literacy among employees.
1205.10000 – Other Affirmative Relief
Ordering a respondent to provide a list of its employees to the charging party is an extraordinary remedy, typically reserved for egregious violations.