Decision 2950E – Santa Barbara Community College District
LA-CE-6811-E
Decision Date: March 25, 2025
Decision Type: PERB Decision (Non-Precedential)
Description: Charging Party Erin O’Connor appealed the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) Order granting in part Respondent Santa Barbara Community College District’s Motion to Dismiss the Complaint issued by PERB’s Office of the General Counsel (OGC). The Complaint alleged, among other things, that the District had discriminated against O’Connor and interfered with his protected rights when it cancelled an informal investigatory meeting because O’Connor requested union representation. The ALJ dismissed the portion of the complaint related to the District’s cancellation of the informal meeting because an employer may cancel an investigative meeting in response to an employee’s insistence on the right to union representation at such a meeting. (County of San Bernardino (Office of the Public Defender) (2015) PERB Decision No. 2423-M citing NLRB v. Weingarten (1975) 420 U.S. 251.) O’Connor appealed, alleging that the District’s Motion to Dismiss was untimely and that the ALJ’s dismissal was factually and legally erroneous.
Disposition: The Board denied the appeal on all counts. The Board determined that the District timely filed its Motion to Dismiss. The Board also denied the substantive appeal, finding that PERB precedent, which is based on the Weingarten Doctrine, authorizes an employer to cancel an investigative meeting in response to an employee’s request for union representation without incurring unfair practice liability.
Perc Vol: 49
Perc Index: 156
Decision Headnotes