Decision A406M – City of Pasadena
LA-CE-574-M
Decision Date: January 28, 2014
Decision Type: Administrative Appeal
Description: A Board agent determined that the City had not complied with the Board’s previous order to compensate its underground crew supervisors with back pay and interest for financial losses as the result of a unilateral implementation of a new on-call rotation schedule.
Disposition: The Board affirmed the Board agent’s decision and adopted the back pay computation method outlined in the Decision, dismissing the City’s appeal.
Perc Vol: 38
Perc Index: 122
Decision Headnotes
102.04000 – Preemption
PERB’s computation of a back pay award to remedy an unfair practice does not interfere with a public authority’s constitutional right to determine the compensation of its employees.
1107.18000 – Review of Findings Not Excepted To
Parties may not use compliance proceedings to re-litigate factual issues previously decided in the same action. Litigation shall not be had in a piecemeal fashion; when a party has a particular claim or defense in a cause of action, it must assert it in those proceedings, or it will be waived.
1108.01000 – In General
The Board determined that the city had not complied with the Board’s previous order to compensate certain employees with back pay and interest after the City unilaterally implemented a new on-call schedule. A compliance decision that is the result of an investigation without a hearing is considered an administrative determination subject to a ten day appeal timeline.
1109.01000 – In General
Parties may not use compliance proceedings to re-litigate factual issues not excepted to, or otherwise previously decided in the same action. Litigation shall not be had in a piecemeal fashion; when a party has a particular claim or defense in a cause of action, it must assert it in those proceedings, or it will be waived.
1109.02000 – Statute of Limitations
Inconsistency in Board agent communications as to the date or procedure for appealing a decision may supply good cause to excuse an untimely filing.
1201.03000 – Back Pay; Interest
Back pay is appropriate when necessary to restore the economic status quo that would have been obtained but for the respondent’s wrongful conduct. When more traditional methods of calculating back pay awards are not available, alternative methods relying on “reasonable approximations and averages” may be used.
1202.01000 – In General
Uncertainty as to the appropriate remedy for an unfair practice must be resolved against the respondent whose unlawful conduct made such doubts possible. Absolute certainty is not required when calculating the back pay necessary to remedy an unfair practice.
1201.01000 – In General
Board-ordered remedies for unfair practices, including back pay awards, may appropriately serve both compensatory and deterrent functions, so long as they are not punitive.